Fall of the White Lotus
by Boo-82
Summary: Grandmaster Iroh sends Katara and Zuko on a quest to prevent the fall of the Order of the White Lotus. They'll have to find Zuko's mother, before autumn turns to winter. An epic story about legendary love. Fall of the White Lotus is currently being revised.
1. Purpose

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 1: Purpose**

Music: Enya, The First of Autumn

* * *

The key made a sharp click in the keyhole when retired general Iroh closed his teashop for the night. Then the old man went on his way to his home in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se.

It was one of those beautiful evenings in early fall when the large city was bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. This was the tranquil time before the arrival of the great autumn storms, which in ancient times had heralded the arrival of the Air Nomads' trading caravan.

At one of the upper ring's grand boulevards, Iroh paused for a moment to admire the view over his beloved city. He could see where Toph and her earthbenders had started breaching the inner walls, which had divided the city's inhabitants for so long.

Iroh's green robes rustled softly as he turned around and continued on his familiar route through the quiet streets, humming a little song to the sound of his steps.

The young Lady Bei Fong was doing good work, he mused. His suggestion to the reinstalled Earth King that Toph be selected as the leader for this operation had turned out very well. Not only did she physically breach the walls of Ba Sing Se, but also, with her bold attitude, she opened windows in the minds of its inhabitants. Which was even more important for this project to succeed. The Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus was always happy to see a peaceful balance established when needed.

* * *

The autumn sun had already disappeared beneath the horizon when Iroh entered his modest home in the shadow of an old cherry tree. A peaceful silence welcomed him and as he lit a few candles the flickering flames cast a golden glow on his precious collection of artifacts, some of which were small though most of them weren't that small at all. In a dark corner of the living room a pair of red rubies gleamed evilly in the dusty face of a sinister monkey statue.

In line with his daily routine, the retired general made himself and his servant some tea before sitting down by his favorite window. There he could see the gentle, golden aureole above the darkening city created by the still glowing horizon. A small habit of the Dragon of the West.

The teachings of the Order of the White Lotus had turned out well for the young people who had fought so bravely to defeat Fire Lord Ozai, he contemplated. As a new peace descended on the world, the work of the Order of the White Lotus was nearly finished for the younger generation. Nearly finished, save for one little, but very important objective. Which, sadly, was a matter of the heart...

* * *

The old general had just finished dinner when he looked up to the soft sound of his servant quietly entering the living room, carrying a silver platter.

"Two letters have arrived for you today, sir," his servant informed him with a slight bow. The servant then handed the elderly man two neatly sealed scrolls. A deep crimson ribbon was tied around the first one, which bore the impressive seal of the Fire Lord. The old general's face creased into a bitter smile.

He didn't have to open the scroll to know its contents. His nephew's letters always started with matter on which he sought advice from his uncle instead of his councilors. Then, it usually shifted to his non-existant private life, contained a standard remark on Mai's well being and ended with the question when his uncle was going to visit him again.

Iroh received similar letters, although more sporadically, from the ever traveling Princess Katara. The letters, which could be recognized by their ribbons of a lighter shade of blue than those of the Northern Water Tribe, matter-of-factly stated where she and the Avatar had been announced Aang's good health and finished with wishing she could see General Iroh again soon.

Iroh wearily shook his head. Neither of them explored the reasons why, exactly, they needed him. If only allowing the two of them to go off and fight Princess Azula had developed their bond more...

Iroh's gaze was drawn to the other scroll he'd received. His curiosity was piqued when he noticed the unfamiliar Earth Kingdom seal as well as the white ribbon, which designated the sender as a member of the Order of the White Lotus. Cautiously, the old general broke the seal and put on his glasses. He narrowed his eyes as he began to read.

* * *

_To the revered Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus,_

_As fortuneteller and member of our beloved Order I feel it's my duty to inform our Grandmaster about an important premonition concerning two of the Young War Heroes. _

_It appears that both the Fire Lord and the Avatar intend to propose to their respective love interests very soon. The insight I received held a warning, for neither union represents the great romance that the young people involved are destined for._

_When I met the young Water Princess three years ago, I tried to make her understand her future feeling. But, I'm afraid I failed to reach her because of the feelings the Avatar harbors for her._ _And, concerning the Grandmaster's nephew, I still regret not telling him his fortune when I had the opportunity, as he now finds himself feeling obligated towards the Lady Mai._

_I believe that the Fire Lord and the Princess of the restored Southern Water Tribe subconsciously feel the connection between themselves. But, their current alliances are holding back the necessary development of their bond. Somehow, this seems to negatively affect the very purpose of the Order of the White Lotus and I feel a growing unrest in the Spirit World. Therefore, I pass on the warning to the Grandmaster of our Order. The insight may be used as the Grandmaster wishes._

_The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets,_

_Wu of Makapu Village_

* * *

Iroh took off his glasses, a troubled expression passing over his features as he closed his eyes. The fortuneteller was a remarkable member of the Order of the White Lotus and very trustworthy. Her letter put into words the uncomfortable feeling he'd had for some time now. She was right. Zuko and Katara's futures did involve both the purpose and future of the Order and because of that, the whole world.

"What would you have me do?" he mumbled, knowing that the Grandmaster would have to act.

From his place by the window, the old general observed Ba Sing Se as it became shrouded in darkness and thousands of lanterns were lit all over the city, mirroring the starry night sky on earth. Then an idea formed in the greatest strategic mind of this time. He rose from his seat and pulled some ink and paper out of a drawer.

It was time to allow Zuko to begin the search for his mother...

* * *

**A/N:** _This is the first chapter of my multi-chapter story Fall of the White Lotus, in which General Iroh as Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus sends Katara and Zuko on a quest to find Ursa, to secure the future of that very Order of the White Lotus. The upcoming chapter titles may seem random, but they are weekly prompts from Zutara Eternity on dA and I will be following those prompts when writing this story. _

_I want to thank my beta Lieta for becoming my beta even though the story has already been published. _

_I hope you all enjoy Fall of the White Lotus and feel free to review!_


	2. Magic

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 2: Magic**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Magic of Love

* * *

It was midweek and this morning Zuko had meetings with three parliamentary committees of the Fire Nation High Council. The High Council consisted of representatives of the Fire Nation nobility, wealthy tradesmen and scholars. The Council was then divided into committees for specific subjects. They were to advise the Fire Lord and his ministers to help them make decisions.

Today Agriculture, Foreign Affairs and Public Health were on the agenda. Zuko tried to suppress a headache as he studied his schedule. Three of the most difficult meetings crammed into one morning. Surely, he would be dead by the end of the day.

Agriculture was always a tough one. The members included wealthy landowners with conflicting interests, none of which could ever agree on anything. In the Foreign Affairs Council, the tradesmen would be sure to press their Fire Lord into tough negotiations with the Earth Kingdom for their lost trade privileges after the end of the war.

Public Health was a subject that had been introduced by Zuko himself after a visit to the village of Jang Hui. To Zuko's retinue the villagers had spoken reverently about the mysterious Painted Lady who had cured the inhabitants of the once so polluted village. It had caused some of Zuko's councilors to laugh haughtily at the villagers' superstitions. But, when they turned away and Zuko's eyes met those of the village chief, the man had inquired in a low voice after the Water Princess's health with a secretive smile.

Despite the councilors' cynicism, the short encounter had put an idea into Zuko's head. And a week later the High Council had been expanded with a new committee for Public Health, consisting of a few of the younger councilors and the Fire Lord.

The committee took to the task with enthusiasm and had progressed quickly. Last month, a group of healers from the Northern Water Tribe had visited the Fire Nation at the request of the Fire Lord himself. They had even agreed to share their knowledge with their colleagues from the Fire Nation.

The eldest of the women had shaken her head when the Fire Lord told the delegation the story about The Painted Lady, which had inspired him to establish this committee. Judging from what he'd told them, the spirit must have been a waterbending healing master, the old woman had remarked with an amused smile. He had been flabbergasted by her perceptiveness.

When he had first taken on the difficult task of being Fire Lord, Zuko often asked his uncle for advice when his councilors and ministers were driving him mad with their opinions and discussions. But, as time passed by, his growing experience sharpened his own judgment, allowing him to more often solve problems by himself.

In spite of that, he still missed his uncle, who lived so far away from him in Ba Sing Se. He knew the old man had finally found his happiness, but he often felt lonely.

Mai couldn't fill that void. She supported him the best way she could, telling him to keep going like he was doing now, but he couldn't break through the barrier between them to really talk to her. He had already given up on that the moment he'd returned to the Fire Nation with her, Ty Lee and his sister three years ago. And so, he wrote down his thoughts and worries in letters to his uncle, hoping to actually speak to him sometime soon.

Zuko sighed when he thought about Mai. Up until now he'd kept it a secret, but he was planning on proposing to her sometime soon. He knew she would be glad and her parents, ambitious as they were, would be thrilled. In fact, Mai's mother never let a moment pass without hinting towards a marriage between him and her daughter.

He expected their marriage to be a lot more loving than the one his parents had shared. Mai had loved him all her life, or at least an image of him, and he thought he liked her too. She was of noble blood, was familiar with court life and he had known her ever since they were little children. And she was also an excellent warrior, something he greatly admired. The indefinable feeling of doubt that gnawed at his resolve at times, he preferred to ignore.

* * *

A soft knock on the gilded door reminded Zuko of the bathing and dressing ritual he had to undergo each morning and he put aside his schedule. His Chamberlain, a kind, older man who resembled his uncle a bit, gently directed him to his bathroom while signaling to the servants.

"I trust you had a good training session this morning, Your Majesty?" He asked while keeping an eye on the servants in charge of the bathing.

Anyone who had ever seen Zuko practice firebending at dawn had to acknowledge that he had become a very powerful bender. His uncle's teachings and the inspiration he'd got from living with the Young War Heroes for a while, had blessed him with a unique style, making use of techniques from other bending disciplines.

Zuko seemed to prefer the waterbending style with which he always ended his training sessions especially. He had been somewhat surprised when the Chamberlain had once asked him about his preference, but told the old man that the waterbending moves had a calming influence on him, like meditating.

As the rising sun lit up the lonely young man at the training grounds in blood red hues, he practiced with allowing the fire to come as close as possible by creating a cloak of fire which hid him from view entirely. Recently, he had developed a way of maintaining two fire whips while wielding his two Dao swords. The whips would follow the swords' every move and functioned as fiery extensions of the shining blades.

According to the Chamberlain's humble opinion, the most impressive sight to behold however was the firespout Zuko had developed. This move, inspired by the waterspout, involved controlling a whirlpool-like pillar of fire as a weapon, rotating it and directing its movements at the same time. The air pressure the whirling pillar of fire created allowed Zuko to levitate himself off the ground and stand on the column of flames. Everyone who had witnessed the scene had been left awed by the sight.

But now, Zuko wrinkled his nose in frustration. "Well enough, I suppose, aside from the lightning thing..." he replied.

The Chamberlain knew what Zuko was referring to. The young Fire Lord had challenged himself to master the art of lightning bending like his father and sister. Something he had failed to succeed in so far. It didn't matter that he had already developed extraordinary firebending techniques, the likes of which Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Azula had never possessed. He still felt unaccomplished and unworthy of the Master title he had received after the end of the war, without the ability to create lightning.

The Chamberlain smiled reassuringly. "You will succeed one day, Sire. I'm sure of it."

Zuko grumbled in annoyance, passively letting his servants dress him in formal Fire Lord robes. "According to my uncle, I need to find a certain internal balance to succeed. I thought, considering my life as it is nowadays, I would have reached enough balance by now."

The Chamberlain thoughtfully watched the young man as Zuko's hair was being pulled back in a topknot and the golden crown slid down his silky raven hair. The Fire Lord had changed since he became the ruler of his nation three years ago. The boy had become a man. And a very popular one among the female population of the Fire Nation at that.

His past uncertainty and hot-headedness had given way to a quiet reflection of his newfound inner peace and a natural authority stemming from his experience as the Fire Lord. He had grown taller than his own father, matching the height of one of his best friends, the Crown Prince of the restored Southern Water Tribe. His shoulders had broadened and maturity showed in his chiseled features. He had also grown his hair longer, but for some reason he refused to let it become long enough to let half of it hang loose from his shoulders, as the previous Fire Lords had worn their hair. Instead, all of his silky black hair was being pulled back into the topknot, like he was still a prince.

The Chamberlain had an idea about the reason why. Apart from the soft line of his cheekbones he inherited from his mother, Zuko had grown up to look exactly like his father. At least, he did when one saw only the unmarred side of his face. Because of it, Zuko had decided to maintain his old hairstyle. He did this to avoid too much of a resemblance with his father, to be sure no one would mistake him for Ozai. That would be too painful.

Snapping out of his reverie, the Chamberlain said, "Lady Mai has asked me to inform you she won't join you over lunch and dinner, since she isn't feeling well."

He watched closely for Zuko's reaction but the young Fire Lord only nodded absentmindedly, muttering to himself about what further balance lightning bending could apparently require of him. The Chamberlain shook his head in resignation at the confirmation of his earlier thoughts as the younger man finished his morning routine and turned to the door.

"Contentment is a whole world apart from happiness and true balance, my boy," he whispered when the Fire Lord left the room.

His footsteps echoed in the grand corridor as he too left the royal quarters.

* * *

As Zuko had expected, the meetings with the parliamentary committees drained most of his energy. By noon he felt exhausted. That was certainly promising for the afternoon, when he was supposed to read reports and bills. He vaguely remembered his Chamberlain saying something about Mai not feeling well, but he didn't care much. She always used that excuse when she was too lazy, bored or both to get out of bed before noon.

Taking advantage of the solitary meal, Zuko asked for his lunch to be served at the turtle duck pond. Mai found it boring, but he enjoyed watching the beautiful garden cloaked in the intense autumn colors the Fire Nation was famous for. Leaves in blazing colors decorated the trees in the garden while the scorching heat of summer had faded into a pleasant temperature. It only enhanced the beauty of his mother's pond.

He sat down at the foot of a small tree with his legs crossed, cursing the cumbersome robes he wore. A small tray was already waiting for him in the shadow of the elegant willow, with his lunch and some bread for the turtle ducks. A treat the little creatures had already discovered, along with Zuko's own lunch. The firebender couldn't suppress a grin at seeing the turtle ducks gathered around the tray, quacking excitedly. At that moment the ducklings spotted him and were headed for the young man as fast as they could.

After taking his lunch to safety, Zuko tore small pieces from the bread to feed the excitedly quacking turtle ducks, with practiced movements. One of the fluffy creatures even decided to go get the bread himself and jumped into his hand, nipping his palm with his sharp searching beak. The turtle duck received some rice as a reward for its boldness, then Zuko let it waddle happily back to the pond.

Slowly starting to relax, Zuko quietly ate his lunch and rested his head against the trunk of the shade tree. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sun on his face. He always felt more comfortable at the pond, where the memory of his mother was the strongest, than he did anywhere else. Though he had to admit to himself, that wasn't the only reason he always returned to the turtle duck pond. He couldn't explain it, but the water seemed to call to him. The glittering of the sun on the surface, the little circles in the water when it rained... It seemed to call out to him, reminding him of something, someone. Urging him to...

* * *

Zuko shot to his feet as a glowing mist suddenly appeared on the surface, slowly creeping over the plants at the edge of the pond. His eyes widened in shock as, within seconds, the garden was covered in mist. The sun had completely disappeared into the dense, grey atmosphere in which all sounds were muffled. He could no longer see farther than a few feet ahead of himself. As cold seeped into his bones, he noticed that the temperature had dropped as well.

While miniscule drops of water started to cling to his clothes and skin, Zuko's heartbeat quickened as he tried to orientate himself. What was happening? Where was he? Still at his mother's turtle duck pond?

He drew in his breath sharply when he saw a figure emerge from the mist. The figure floated towards him, wearing loose, fluttering clothing and a rice hat with a veil that hid its face from view. The mist gracefully flowed around the figure, softening its silhouette. When the figure drew nearer he could make out the stripes of red paint on its bare arms and long hair flowing in gentle waves from beneath the rice hat. At that moment he recognized her: The Painted Lady.

His mouth fell open on a silent "Oh," as the spirit stopped right in front of him, floating in mid air. She bent down, bringing her face close to his. The veil obscured her features but he could see the artistic paintings on her forehead, cheeks and chin. He swallowed with difficulty, unable to move as he tried to grasp the fact that he was now facing a spirit while feeling an inexplicable sensation of recognition as he looked into her deep blue eyes.

She raised a slender hand covered with blue, glowing water.

"This is water from the Spirit Oasis," she said in a gentle, melodic voice that echoed strangely through the air, "it has healing powers..."

Zuko's breath caught and the blood started to pound in his ears as only one name suddenly shot through his mind. _Katara?_ He was unable to move as he watched her hand draw nearer until it was only inches from his scar. He closed his eyes again, anticipating...

Nothing.

When he opened his eyes again, the figure was already withdrawing into the mist, gently smiling through the tattered veil.

Disappointment shot through him painfully, wrenching his heart the moment she distanced herself from him. He relived an agonizing hurt he knew he had felt before, but only vaguely remembered now. For a moment the surroundings seem to glow with a soft green light and a tan face with astonishing blue eyes suddenly appeared disturbingly close to his... Then, as the pain subsided, he noticed that the figure floated above the pond again cupping a softly glowing object in her hands.

She bent down and placed the glowing object in the water, causing it to ripple. The spirit smiled at him once again and slowly started to retreat into the mist, leaving behind her glowing gift on the surface of the turtle duck pond...

* * *

With a gasp, Zuko woke up, eyes wide, and heart beating wildly in his chest. As he tried to calm his ragged breathing, he noticed he was still at the waterside, sitting against the tree with the sun still shining gently on the surface, while the turtle ducks rested peacefully on the water.

Everything was as he left it when... when he... 'I must have fallen asleep,' he realized with a sigh.

Closing his eyes again he tried to bring back the mysterious dream.

Katara... and The Painted Lady... What could it mean? Last time he had such a vivid dream was when he fell ill after setting Appa free, he remembered. In that dream the dragons Ran and Shao had appeared.

Did this mean he would meet The Painted Lady? Or Katara? He wasn't even sure it was a dream at all. It had seemed so real, yet so fantastic and he could almost feel the touch of her hand gloved in the blue glowing water from the Spirit Oasis...

Shaking his head to free himself from his lingering sleepiness, he made a movement to stand up. Then his eye caught something on the surface that wasn't there when he fell asleep.

His eyes widened. There, on the surface, enjoying the sunlight on its petals, rested a beautiful water flower. A white lotus.

Zuko crept towards the water and blinked in disbelief as he slowly stretched out his hand. He hesitantly touched one of the fragile petals, expecting the flower to disappear in a glittering mist like the spirit had before. But the flower was real, as real as the water lilies surrounding it and the turtle ducks coming closer, hoping for more bread.

Easily, Zuko stood up, his eyes narrowing as suddenly a picture of a Pai Sho tile flashed through his mind.

"What's going on?" he asked, this time out loud.

It was then that the messenger hawk chose to arrive, carrying a letter from the Dragon of the West.

* * *

**A/N:** _Zuko knows about Katara being The Painted Lady because in the EIP episode she has been referred to as such in the play. And did you recognize Katara's old teacher Yugoda? She was the eldest of the healers from the Northern Water Tribe who visited the Fire Nation._

_I'm now including music that closely fits the chapters, both in title and atmosphere._

_I want to thank my beta Lieta for her valuable comments. Thanks for reading and until next time!_


	3. Control

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 3: Control**

Music: Bear McCreary, One Year Later (Battlestar Galactica S02)

* * *

_General Iroh carefully put the board on the table and watched with satisfaction as the other player pulled a set of Pai Sho tiles from his sleeves. Then he lightly touched the arm of his young companion, motioning her to sit down. __When the three of them were seated, he smiled._

* * *

Zuko couldn't concentrate on his duties. He had left the proposal for a rearrangement of province borders on his desk untouched while he tapped the opened scrolls with his brush, lost in thought. The muffled tapping was a discouraging reminder of just how thick the pile of papers he still needed to plough through was. As the sound registered, he automatically dipped his brush into his ink pot and focused on the report, readying himself to take notes. Nonetheless, his thoughts drifted off again and he absently started drawing on the report instead.

The young man's mind kept returning to the events at the turtle duck pond earlier this afternoon. He never had experienced such a thing in his life and, being Zuko, he had already gone through a lot. But, never before had he personally interacted with a spirit and he had been shocked to see how much she had looked like Katara. The vision of the spirit placing the white lotus in the pond was etched in his memory, making him wonder what exactly she had to do with that old men's tea group of his uncle, the Order of the White Lotus.

He had already asked the guards, discreetly, if they had seen anything unusual. But, they had only seen him sleeping by the turtle duck pond. It could have been a dream. But how could he explain the white lotus that had bloomed in the turtle duck pond over night? Or the appearance of The Painted Lady. Zuko could neither explain her presence at the pond this afternoon, nor her apparent association with the Order of the White Lotus. Was this some trick of his uncle's band of Pai Sho friends?

At his mother's turtle duck pond, the spirit had made him relive one of the most painful moments in his life, which also happened to be one of the most precious. Once again, he felt himself being drawn in hopelessly by her gentleness, experienced the feeling of drowning in those deep blue eyes as his heart involuntarily opened up to her. Vaguely, he had registered the regret shining behind her searching gaze, before he bowed his head under the soft touch of her fingers. They brushed his lips ever so slightly as she carefully touched the marred skin of his cheek. He had not been able to suppress a shiver at what had felt almost like a caress to him.

Katara... It had been a while since he had spent more than a few moments of thought on the young woman who traveled the world with the Avatar, busy as he was adjusting to his new position as the Fire Lord.

His hand subconsciously went to touch the scar on his chest. The one scar he didn't mind. The one, which instead of being inflicted on him out of hatred, he had willingly taken out of... He shook his head vigorously. This was maddening.

With a growl of frustration, he swept aside the innocent papers on his desk and decided to call it a day. He would ask for an early dinner, so he could go to bed immediately thereafter.

Upon leaving his study Zuko put away his brush, then extinguished the lights with one weary wave of his arm. The proposal on rearrangements of province borders was left behind. A picture of an opened white lotus, bearing the symbols of he Fire Nation and the Water Tribe in its heart, had been drawn on it.

* * *

_The tiles, each engraved with stylized forms of different flowers, were put on the board carefully. _

_"The game of Pai Sho isn't to be learned over night. Like firebending or earthbending, it requires practice to gain the necessary insight. Only then one can really understand and appreciate the noble game of Pai Sho," General Iroh explained kindly to his young companion, who nodded in understanding, staring at a point above the board. _

_The other player inclined his head in respect. "The Dragon of the West is as famous for his skills in Pai Sho as for his tea making. I'm honored to be your opponent."_

_And thus the game began._

* * *

"Your Majesty, a personal letter from General Iroh has arrived today."

The servant kept his gaze down as a happy smile passed over Zuko's features. The young Fire Lord put aside his chopsticks and took the offered scroll from the servant's hands. It wasn't often that Uncle sent him more than one letter per month. The old man held the point of view that one must weigh his words carefully. Perhaps Uncle Iroh had somehow felt that his nephew would need his advice beyond the day-to-day worries. But as the servant quietly took his leave, Zuko's smile disappeared, replaced by an wary expression.

There was something unusual about this letter that awoke a foreboding feeling that he couldn't put his finger on. His gaze caught the seal the scroll was closed with and he narrowed his eyes. Normally, his uncle would be using the crest of the Dragon of the West, which combined a setting sun with the symbols of the Fire Nation royal family. This seal however, was white and showed a lotus and a dragon.

For a moment, Zuko hesitated. Somehow, it felt as if the events of today had been leading up to this moment. Suddenly, he dreaded opening the scroll and knowing the message it hid inside. Taking a deep breath, he finally broke the seal and rolled out the letter. Silently, he started to read. Then his face paled.

* * *

_"In the game of Pai Sho, it's all about trying to anticipate your opponent's next move and prevent his strategy from working, as you follow a strategy of your own," Iroh said, as a few tiles disappeared in the pot. "For this, I personally favor the White Lotus tile, because of its ability to insure balance on the board, while its movements aren't hindered by the rules applied to the other tiles."_

* * *

Zuko lowered the scroll and looked up, an expression of bewilderment in his golden eyes. Three years. It had been three years since he had become Fire Lord and buried his hopes of ever seeing his mother again, when his father had refused to tell him where to find her. And now... He rested his head in his hands, burrying his fingers in his black hair as he stared at the letter on the dining table before him. His eyes ran over the characters frantically, making sure he hadn't misread anything.

But, he hadn't misread: Uncle Iroh urged him, no, ordered him, to go on a search for his mother, Princess Ursa.

* * *

… _It is of utmost importance that you find Princess Ursa before the end of this futures of both the Order of the White Lotus and the world depend on it. Therefore, I want you to come to Omashu by the middle of fall. There, you will meet the person who will accompany you on your travels…_

* * *

Zuko's blood pounded in his ears he cast a look on red and gold drapes that decorated the huge walls of the dining room with unseeing eyes. He tried to process the information that had suddenly been poured over him. His world was shaken to its foundations.

His mother was alive. Up until today he hadn't even been certain about that. But, this letter clearly stated she was. Relief and gratitude mixed with anger washed over him as he returned his gaze to the letter and stared at the characters depicting his mother's name. He thought about his uncle, who had known all along, but all those years had chosen to remain silent.

Zuko closed his eyes to calm himself as he tried to understand why his uncle had kept the truth from him, all the while knowing how much his nephew still needed to know. But, in almost the same instant he realized that his uncle had never actually discouraged his hopes of finding his mother. He had merely advised him to focus on the tremendous responsibility of being the Fire Lord, understanding that this would take up all of his nephew's attention and Zuko's anger subsided. Instead, a strange feeling of excitement surged through him at being given the opportunity to search for his mother, to go on a journey again after three years of what sometimes looked like imprisonment in his own palace.

He reread the last lines of his uncle's letter and frowned at the ridiculous terms formulated in it. It irritated him that his uncle expected him to simply jump up and forget about his obligations toward the Fire Nation. If he were to reach Omashu before the set date, he would have to start packing tonight. Not to mention the traveling companion he didn't have a choice about, apparently. Zuko sighed.

Still, he knew he would seize the opportunity with both hands. He knew that he could leave the Fire Nation in the care of his ministers, under his uncle's watchful guidance. Zuko's thoughts wandered to the person he was supposed to meet in Omashu that would be his traveling companion. Curiosity and resentment alternated at yet another strange condition.

Why he couldn't bring Mai was initially beyond him. But, almost immediately he knew that she would probably find undertaking this journey too boring. According to Ty Lee she hadn't even been able to find some satisfaction in chasing him and Aang with his little sister.

It was not until then that he realized that his uncle's assignment interfered with his plans to propose to Mai sometime soon. But, as he put away the letter, he had to admit that, deep down, he welcomed the excuse to postpone that event.

Rising from his cross-legged position, he completely forgot about his intention to go to bed early as he decided to start making arrangements for his arrival at Omashu by the middle of fall. He looked forward to seeing his crazy uncle again.

* * *

_Iroh looked up from the Pai Sho board and accepted his opponent's congratulations._

_"You see," he said to the girl at his side, looking fondly at his White Lotus tile, "once you know the secrets of the white lotus, and live accordingly, you can control her strength and power to restore the balance within. That's the essence of the white lotus."_

_Listening to his words, the retired general's companion noticed the sharp and determined tone lacing his voice, before it disappeared again under a veil of friendly coziness. _

_And Toph knew that the Dragon of the West was no longer talking about Pai Sho anymore. __The old general had started his last mission._

* * *

_**A/N:**__ This time I used a alternating point of view of Zuko receiving an urgent letter from his uncle and Iroh playing a game of Pai Sho. _

_I want to thank my beta Lieta for her excellent suggestions. _

_Thanks for reading!_


	4. Bubbles

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 4: Bubbles**

Music: Bear McCreary, Roslin and Adama (Battlestar Galactica: 2003 S02)

* * *

Water dripped from the wet, slippery stones, while fog covered all surroundings. Only the little breeze, that sometimes blew away some of the thick mist, revealing the desolate, rocky landscape littered with hot springs and geysers, before the grim view was obscured by a new wave of thick, all-encompassing fog.

A young woman stood motionlessly next to one of the countless hot springs creating the steam that caused the dense fog. Her moist hair was plastered to her face in strings and a dark blue cloak moved slightly around her slender body with each breeze.

She stared into the restless hot spring at her feet, a fixed look in her cool blue eyes. Melancholy was written on her face, which looked ashen in the somber daylight. Then, as she slowly closed her eyes, a lonely tear rolled down her cheek. She still didn't move. The tear fell into the hot spring, mixing with the bubbles in the boiling water.

Eventually, the girl knelt down and gingerly touched the hot water, only to draw back with a sharp hiss immediately. Then, as if released by the sudden pain, she finally broke. She started to sob quietly, face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking.

Three years. It had been three years since the Avatar had defeated the Fire Lord and had established a new peace in the world. Team Avatar, as Sokka still insisted on calling them, fell apart as each of them took their responsibility in rebuilding a world that was shattered by a hundred years of war.

Her father and brother had created a new governmental structure in the rebuilt capital city of the Southern Water Tribe after Hakoda had been inaugurated as the new Chief.

Suki had gone back to Kyoshi Island, to lead the Kyoshi Warriors. Then, as the right time came, she would hand over the leadership of the Kyoshi Warriors and come to the South Pole as the bride of the Crown Prince. Until then, Sokka had to endure being separated from his love, which he had accepted with admirable understanding.

Toph had decided to stay with Iroh in Ba Sing Se, breaching the inner walls in the process and Zuko had reluctantly taken over title and tasks from his father.

And she... It had grieved her enormously to see her brother and father leave for the Southern Water Tribe when she did not. It had broken her heart to not see her little earthbending sister grow up. An image of two golden eyes drifted to the surface of her memory, looking at her worriedly, only to vanish into the bleak nothing of the grey fog surrounding her.

She had not been able to follow her brother, keep in touch with Toph or talk to Zuko. The travels never ended. They sought freedom and adventure. Officially, the purpose of their journeys was to show the Avatar to as many people as possible, but in reality they seemed to be fleeing from any kind of responsibility. At first Katara couldn't blame Aang, not after all he had gone through in less than a year's time. But, that understanding was long gone and all that remained was a feeling of exhaustion and desperation that went beyond her years. Which, of course, Aang failed to notice.

After Katara had accepted Aang's love for her, they took off with an unknown destiny. They only met with their friends when a gathering was planned far in advance. During that time, she changed from the girl she had been, to the young woman kneeling beside the hot spring right now. Her hair had grown to reach her waist and her curves showed through the blue traveling dress. Her round face had slimmed, accenting her cheekbones and bringing out her ocean blue eyes.

Last time she had seen their old traveling group was on Avatar Day in spring, half a year ago. They hadn't been able to make it for the Fire Nation Festival in the summer. Katara was convinced that Zuko had been hurt by their absence on this important day for his nation, especially after a little conversation they had earlier on Avatar Day. It only made her feel guiltier.

* * *

On Avatar Day in spring they had all gathered in Ba Sing Se and Katara remembered the pink petals of the plum tree twirling around in the air, as the sun shone down on the people celebrating the festival.

The few times they had seen each other during the past three years, Katara had noticed Zuko watching her with an increasingly worried glance in his thoughtful eyes. But, up until then he had never touched upon the subject she feared to discuss, for which she was grateful.

This Avatar Day, however, Zuko had seemed shocked by her appearance and the next day he had suddenly pulled her aside, taking advantage of Aang's focus on the festivities. He had folded his arms, watching her intently, a sharp look in his eyes as he cornered her. She remembered the shaggy bangs of his black hair falling in his face, since he wasn't wearing his hair in his customary topknot. She also remembered how she had suppressed the sudden urge to tuck those strands behind his ears.

"Now, tell me, what is going on?" he demanded of his former traveling companion.

She had been caught off guard by his direct approach. When the initial surprise wore off she had not been able to bear his intent look, seeing the worry and a slight anger shining in his eyes. She lowered her gaze until it rested upon the green robes he wore, that they all wore, to blend in with the Earth Kingdom masses. Shaking her head, she had tried to slip past him, but he had simply stepped into her way to stop her.

"That's not good enough an answer," he said grimly. "I can see there's something wrong with you. You look tired and I haven't seen a real smile from you since last year. Maybe you can fool the others, but not me."

Katara had looked up, eyes blazing, ready for an angry retort. But, upon seeing his genuine concern, the anger had melted away. Looking away, she noticed Aang, who was currently trying to impress some Earth Kingdom girls with some simple airbending tricks.

She let her shoulders slump as she wearily shook her head. "It's just the weight of the travels, I guess," she replied dejectedly, for the first time voicing her true feelings. Somehow, Zuko had always been able to make her talk to him.

Vaguely, she realized that she had missed that while traveling the world with Aang. Aang cared for her deeply and would do anything for her. But, she couldn't tell him about her feelings, thoughts and worries. He usually tried to cheer her up with some wise Avatar advice and changed the subject to their next destination on the map.

"You're tired of traveling," Zuko put matter-of-factly, "you desperately want to settle down somewhere build up a life."

When she had looked up in surprise at his perceptiveness, he shook his head. "I know you Katara. And I know Aang. It's not in your nature to be traveling forever, detached from everything that you care about. Being a member of the Water Tribe you can adapt. But, you still need roots, a place you can call home."

Katara had been shocked by his words, but had acknowledged the truth in them. A watery, but genuine, smile broke through on her sad face. Which she quickly hid with a mocking expression, looking at him from under her eyelashes. "Your uncle told you all that, didn't he?"

Surely, the old general had spoken with his nephew about the letters she wrote him.

A hint of pink graced Zuko's cheeks and he had looked away, a bit embarrassed.

"So what?" He grumbled. "It's still true. Aang will never stop traveling. It's in his blood as an airbender and he can't be tied to one place. But the real question remains: how much longer can you carry on with this style of living?"

* * *

Half a year later she found herself in this desolate place in the northern Earth Kingdom, kneeling down at a hot spring, feeling sad and empty. She had tried to bring up the subject of putting an end to their travels. But she was met with a shocked and hurt look from her boyfriend and a refusal to talk about it.

As soon as Appa landed near the geysers, Katara had walked away, with a desperate need to be alone, and finally stopped before the hot spring where she now knelt. The presence of the water, even heated to unbearable temperatures, finally started to soothe her and, almost involuntarily, the most powerful waterbender in the world started to bend the boiling water.

Closing her eyes, Katara lifted a ribbon of water from the hot spring and, as if in a trance, her hands began to form the water into a shape. Her troubled thoughts settled as her slender hands moved gracefully, calmly painting in the sky with elegant, fluid movements.

Finally, she looked up to see what her hands had been creating and noticed in amazement that the water floating above the hot spring had taken on the form of a lotus flower. Then, as Katara watched in awe, a little breeze blew away some of the thick fog again and the rays of the setting sun colored the crystalline petals a deep crimson.

'Burning water,' she thought in confusion, mesmerized by the red, sparkling, liquid lotus flower. She tried to remember when she decided to bend the water into this form, but failed.

Suddenly, the sound of a boyish tenor voice broke through the muffled silence of the fog. Startled, she let go of her lotus figure and immediately turned around.

"Katara?" Aang hesitantly stepped into view. The fog had hidden his approach until he was only a few steps away from her. He had grown enormously the last three years, and his height almost matched Sokka and Zuko. His face had lost the childlike innocence but, being a growing boy, his movements had become a little clumsy, as if he didn't know what to do with his limbs.

Now, a frown appeared on his still smooth features. "There you are! Why did you walk away all of a sudden? Didn't I tell you we have to stick together in this place or otherwise we will lose sight of each other?"

Katara didn't react, suddenly too tired to argue with him. She rose and stretched her stiff knees, ignoring him as she walked past him, towards the platform where they had left Appa. "I'm going to set up camp, Aang. Hurry up, it will be dark soon."

Aang fell silent at the distant expression on her face, not knowing whether he should be annoyed or concerned. His big, grey eyes showed his lack of understanding of Katara's current mood, not sure if she would listen if he were to finish what he had to say. He scratched the base of his bald head.

"Katara, after you walked away, a messenger hawk arrived. I don't know how it found us, but it did."

Katara suddenly spun around, her eyes widening as her heart made a strange leap.

Glad that he had her attention again, Aang felt a little relieved and continued solemnly, "It's from General Iroh. He wants us to be in Omashu by the middle of fall."

* * *

**A/N: **_Yay! The first chapter from Katara's point of view. This also was the last of the introductions, so on with the story._

_Things to note about this chapter: I made Avatar Day a national festival in the Earth Kingdom after the war, so tha__t's why the Gaang was celebrating Avatar Day in Ba Sing Se._

_I want to thank my beta Lieta for her critical eye and we'll see each other in Omashu!_


	5. Nuclear

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 5: Nuclear**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Ancient Cities

* * *

Through the mountainous landscape, a small procession moved slowly towards the legendary city of Omashu, dark red contrasted against the yellow hues of the city's sandstone surroundings.

In the front, two soldiers in full masks rode on komodo-rhinos. Their uniforms consisted of terrifying, spiked helms which completely concealed their faces, but for two white holes for the eyes and a sharply cut space for the mouth. Next, came a gold and red palanquin, carried by four large men. The palanquin was ornately decorated and crowned by a gold dragon, gleaming in the light of the rising sun. It rocketed slightly in time with the men's heavy footsteps. Then, came a group of civilians. These were servants accompanying a caravan with traveling bags and suitcases. At the rear, came two more masked soldiers.

This was the retinue of His Majesty, the Lord of the Fire Nation, on his way to Omashu.

From his seat in the palanquin, Zuko watched as Omashu rose into his view as they approached the city on the lone stone bridge that led up to the gates. The buildings inside the city walls were bathed in the early morning sun.

Although he had heard about her splendor, in reality Omashu was a lot more beautiful than he ever could have imagined. The city was built on a large mesa in the middle of a canyon. It followed a pyramidal form and was surrounded by mighty walls. Narrowing his eyes, Zuko could identify an ingenious transport system, consisting of an intricate structure of slides. Spectacular plants hung down from the numerous terraces and formidable trees in blazing autumn colors completed the appearance of the golden city.

Zuko had wondered why his uncle would have him travel all the way to Omashu. But, upon seeing this beautiful city he was only grateful that he had been given the opportunity to see Omashu with his own eyes.

The contrast with Ba Sing Se was sharp. Zuko knew that his uncle loved the Earth Kingdom capital, but he never got used to living there. He had felt like a prisoner between all those walls that held a city as large as the entire Fire Nation mainland. The sight of Omashu, on its far more modest scale, pleased him much more than Ba Sing Se could have ever done.

Despite himself, Zuko began to feel a little excited. It had been far too long since he had been outside the Fire Nation and he was looking forward to actually seeing his uncle again. He would also see the unparalleled King Bumi, member of the Order of the White Lotus and, apparently, childhood friend of Aang's, again.

Zuko allowed himself a smirk as he shook his head. He still couldn't picture his playful friend as a 114 year old, the bearer of memories of the world as it was a hundred years ago. A time when Aang had had friends all over the world, living in blissful ignorance about the upcoming war. A war his current friends all had grown up in the shadow of.

'I should ask him about, what was his name again... Kuzon,' Zuko mused. The name was awfully similar to his.

A komodo-rhino stepped quietly next to his palanquin and the lord chamberlain's face appeared in Zuko's sight. "Your Majesty, we will arrive at the Omashu gates shortly. Shall I give the men the order to remove their helmets?" The older man asked respectfully.

Zuko nodded in confirmation. He had given orders that his soldiers were to remove their helms upon their arrival. This was out of consideration for the sentiments of the city's inhabitants towards his nation, the brutal occupation only been three years ago. He did not need to inspire more fear among the people of Omashu than could be avoided. The demonic masks, despite the fact that within the Fire Nation they were the highly respected sign of an Imperial Firebender who was devoted to serving the royal family, caused a lot of fear outside his nation. He had often noticed this on his travels through the Earth Kingdom.

Zuko cast a glance at the golden city again. As far as he could see, the evidence of the short occupation by the Fire Nation seemed to have been erased from the city's appearance. He found himself grateful for that as he remembered the horrible description Mai once gave him of New Ozai.

As the palanquin came to a somewhat bumpy halt, he closed his eyes to overcome the restless feeling that, every now and then, would tighten his chest ever since this morning. He attributed it to a kind of nervousness about his uncle's mysterious plans with him.

After taking a final deep breath, Zuko let his eyes trail to the blue sky above Omashu, before closing the red velvet curtain. He had arrived at Omashu.

Two speared gatekeepers, wearing the typical Earth Kingdom helms, placed themselves before the huge wooden gates, blocking the way for the Fire Nation train.

"Who has come to our city?" One of them boomed grimly, already knowing the answer.

In his palanquin, Zuko sighed. Best to get this over with quickly. He knew that somewhere behind this gate, King Bumi must have been waiting for him as the visiting ruler of another friendly country. But such a visit was bound by traditions like these.

As soon as Zuko had decided to comply with his uncle's request, he had sent a messenger hawk to announce his arrival to King Bumi. In return he had received a very strange letter, on pink paper, from His Majesty the King of Omashu. It had contained an invitation to stay at the palace during his visit, and had also been signed on behalf of someone named Flopsy.

Zuko, feeling had, awaited the ringing voice of his announcer. He was still not quite used to what was coming next.

"Announcing His Majesty Lord Zuko of the Fire Nation, Keeper of the Dragon Throne, Esquire of the Earth Kingdom and Young War Hero!"

At the announcer's last words the gatekeepers' grim attitude suddenly changed into one full of respect and they quickly stepped aside, lowering their gazes, as if put in their places.

"Let Fire Lord Zuko enter the city of Omashu," one of them said in a lofty voice and the gates slowly started to open up to the Fire Lord and his retinue.

* * *

Inside the city walls, a group of curious people had gathered around the welcoming committee. It was not often they saw their king in public, certainly not accompanied by the Avatar and two other Young War Heroes. Also, rumor had it that it was the new Fire Lord, the son of the previous Fire Lord but of a totally different reputation, he was waiting for.

The young Fire Lord seemed to be friends with the Avatar, had actually helped him to defeat his own father and therefore belonged to the Avatar's close group of young benders now known throughout the nations as the Young War Heroes. Whispers went through the crowd as they waited.

Katara actually hoped it wasn't Zuko they were waiting for. She still felt horribly guilty for not showing up on his nation's most important holiday, and certainly wouldn't want to face him in a crowded place like this square. She couldn't fathom why he would suddenly come to Omashu, anyway.

Aang didn't seem to share her problem as he stood next to her, wearing a big grin on his face. On his other side stood Toph, trying to look indifferent.

King Bumi and General Iroh talked quietly with each other, gazes fixed on the gate. Although, Bumi amazingly managed to have one eye fixed on Momo sitting on Aang's shoulder, as well. Sometimes, Iroh inconspicuously seemed to cast a thoughtful look at the sky.

Katara and Aang had arrived only the evening before, with Appa landing gracefully at the lawn in front of Bumi's palace. They were welcomed by a serenely smiling Iroh and a disgruntled Toph. The earthbender had sent a boulder at their heads for not coming to the Fire Nation Festival this summer, before letting herself being hugged by her friends.

Then, waving away their questions, Iroh announced that he expected another visitor in Omashu by next morning. If they liked, they could join him and King Bumi in welcoming the guest. The rest was history as Katara now watched with quickly increasing tension as the gates slowly opened.

Two komodo-rhinos stepped onto the square with sweeping tails. Their riders' faces were still grim even without their helms. Katara closed her eyes as her anxious foreboding was confirmed before looking up to see a familiar red and gold palanquin halting before King Bumi.

Zuko had arranged for the smallest retinue allowed by the ceremonial regulations, for what he considered to be only a personal trip, but it was still a sight to behold. The crowd went silent.

With practiced ease, Zuko climbed out of the palanquin, obviously glad to inhale some fresh air. Despite herself, Katara's lips turned up in a grin, although she had to admit he looked good for someone who had spent days sitting in a palanquin, his muscles stiffening from doing nothing and being bored to death.

He stood tall, regal in his long robes, the crown in his topknot shimmering in the sun. His pale countenance did not show signs of weariness, as he looked around, genuinely impressed by the city surrounding him, not noticing the gasps of female inhabitants impressed by him. He hadn't noticed his friends yet.

"Zuko!"

Ignoring all protocol, General Iroh jumped forward to embrace his nephew and the young Fire Lord spun around. The look on Zuko's face when he suddenly had his arms full of uncle, betrayed how happy he was to see the old man. Even Toph smiled, touched by the loving reunion. It was obvious they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

After a moment, Zuko straightened up. He moved towards King Bumi to greet his host, but suddenly stopped when he finally spied his old friends standing somewhat to the side. His eyes widened as his mouth fell open. _What were they doing in Omashu?_

Next to Bumi stood Aang, wearing a wide grin and having obviously grown another couple of inches. Toph, wearing a light green silk dress for the occasion, had her empty gaze fixed on him, looking like she had grown too, although in a less spectacular way than Aang. For a moment, his gaze lingered on Katara, who flashed him a strangely hesitant smile. Only Sokka and Suki were absent.

Zuko blinked as he remembered his uncle's letter. _Were they all to be his traveling companions?_ As he bowed his head for a moment, his face lit up in a brilliant smile at the prospect, a smile that was met with a soft whispering among the women in the crowd.

Then he remembered his duties. Zuko regained his composure and went to address his host first, bowing respectfully to him. "Your Majesty, I'm honored to be your guest in this truly magnificent city," he said solemnly, looking up in confusion when he heard King Bumi giggle.

"That will depend on how you interpret the definition of guest, young majesty," Bumi said enigmatically, his eye almost rolling out of his socket as he bowed towards Zuko, who backed away slightly. "Care for a few challenges, hmmm?"

"No, Bumi, not now," Aang hastily interrupted. Zuko caught Katara glancing fearfully at some crystal Bumi suddenly held in his hands while she and the others approached him as well. "Now is not the time for challenges, but for food and drinks."

Zuko, deciding he'd ask later, whispered to Katara, "Since when does Aang sound like your brother?"

Then he got hugged and punched painfully by the Avatar and his earthbending teacher.

Relieved that he didn't seem to be too mad at her, Katara laughed genuinely and gave him a quick hug that drew a small smile to his lips. "It's good to see you, too," she said.

From a small distance, General Iroh had watched thoughtfully as Katara released Zuko and the small group assumed a formal line, with Bumi up front showing Zuko the way. Then, as he cast a last glance at the sky, Iroh closed the procession and the crowd slowly dispersed behind them.

* * *

As soon as Zuko had been settled in his overwhelmingly green guest room, the group, and Zuko's guards, spent the rest of the day sightseeing in Omashu, guided by King Bumi. They strolled through the lively alleys, eating and drinking various Omashu delicacies they bought on the streets, being stared at with friendly curiosity by the inhabitants, as they followed their crazy tour guide.

When a cabbage merchant jumped into the stack of cabbages before him in utter panic upon being greeted by Aang, Zuko could only shake his head in bewilderment, as he watched Aang and Katara bursting into laughter.

Zuko also learned the true meaning of nausea, when Aang, supported by a deviously grinning Katara and Toph, had talked him into the quick tour first.

Never again, Zuko vowed dizzily as he looked up to the high slides he just had been racing down in a mail delivery wagon. He was still rocking on his feet.

"Princess Azula seemed to like it much better back then," King Bumi mused nostalgically, as he followed Zuko's unfocused gaze.

Zuko's eyes darkened. "Well, I'm not my sister," he answered curtly before clapping his hand before his mouth and running into an alley. Bumi smiled innocently.

On a tour through the palace, Zuko also learned who Flopsy was, or rather what Flopsy's drool felt like.

"Maybe I should have Appa lick it off me again, it's not like it could do any more damage," he said resignedly, patiently waiting for Aang and Katara to recover from their laughter, before he excused himself to change.

Soon thereafter the bell rang for dinner.

* * *

Night had fallen over the city of Omashu. In the palace gardens two young people leaned against an elegant, wrought iron fence. They admired the wide view on the terraces beneath them with countless lanterns glistening spots of light against the dark sky. Zuko and Katara had decided to go find the gardens, when they had found themselves left alone after dinner. Toph had confiscated Aang to show him some new earthbending moves, while Iroh and Bumi had decided on a game of Pai Sho.

For a moment, they silently watched the stars appearing in the sky. Then Katara's soft voice broke the silence. "It's beautiful, isn't it? Omashu?"

Zuko could only nod. There were no words to describe this magnificent city. Although...

"It feels like home," he said thoughtfully, surprised by his own words.

But Katara nodded understandingly. "I feel the same way, I have ever since I first came here."

She looked at him for a moment, pondering, then bowed her head. "I want to apologize to you for not attending the Fire Nation Festival last summer. I hope you'll forgive us."

Zuko cast a sharp glance at her and suddenly understood her hesitant attitude toward him this afternoon. With a small smile he said good-naturedly: "It doesn't matter. I know you would have come, if it had been possible."

They both knew what he meant and Katara closed her eyes, feeling the familiar weariness washing over her, heavier than ever before. She sighed quietly, grateful that he truly wasn't mad at her. "Thank you."

In an attempt to distract her, Zuko pointed to the night sky where now his favorite constellation, Ursa Minor, appeared. It was unusually bright in this part of the world, the sparkling Pole Star floating above the impressive constellation.

It worked. Katara followed his gaze with interest and for a while they watched the velvet sky and pointed out several constellations to each other, discovering the different names they had for quite a lot of them.

Finally, a companionable silence settled between them. A firebender and a waterbender, standing side by side leaning against a railing with the earthbenders' city of Omashu stretching out beneath them.

From the corner of his eyes Zuko took a moment to watch Katara as she stood there. Her dark brown hair flowed gently in the wind and her eyes shone softly, making him feel more at ease than he had felt in a long time.

Eventually, Katara glanced to her side, where Zuko leaned against the railing. His red robes softly billowed in the wind, while his hair was tightly pulled back in a Fire Nation topknot. Katara felt herself relax in the peaceful atmosphere. But, she had to ask...

"Do you know why we are here?" Katara spoke up quietly, her ocean blue eyes thoughtful as she turned to face him questioningly.

Pulled out of his thoughts, Zuko frowned slightly. "I don't know why you are here, but I am here because my uncle asked... no, ordered me to be in Omashu by the middle of fall, to go on a search for my mother."

This was unexpected for Katara. Her eyes widened as she turned toward him. "A search for your mother? But... I thought..."

"Ozai didn't take back what he revealed to me on the Day of Black Sun when I went to ask him about the whereabouts of my mother," his voice softly interrupted, silently pleading for her not to question the realism of his hopes.

Katara nodded sympathetically. Back then, she had been the first he'd confided in his father's refusal to give him any information about his mother, even before Mai. He had known she would understand his frustration. If it had been her mother, she would have reacted the same way, she realized.

"A few weeks ago, I suddenly received a letter from Uncle stating that he needed me to go searching for her, to secure the future of the Order of the White Lotus and even the world. I need to find her before the end of fall, or otherwise the Order of the White Lotus will cease to exist," he elaborated thoughtfully. His raspy voice was the only sound in the peaceful silence of the palace garden. "I don't know what to think of it, really, as I don't know what the Order's link is to my mother."

Katara frowned, a confused expression on her face, as she turned her head to look at him.

"But that is what my uncle wrote," he said, looking to the stars above, feeling her stare. There was one more thing he had to add. "He also wrote in his letter, that in Omashu I was to meet my traveling companion for this search."

Katara was amazed. "… Your traveling companion?" she repeated, her face puzzled. "But... What about Mai? Is that why she isn't with you?"

Zuko merely shrugged. "Since she wasn't to be my traveling companion, she didn't feel inclined to come with me to Omashu. She hates the city."

Their eyes met in mutual understanding, before Zuko shook his head. Then he looked at Katara from the corner of his eye. "And you, why are you here?"

"Because of a letter General Iroh sent us when Aang and I were at the northernmost province of the Earth Kingdom, to see some geysers. It stated that we needed to be in Omashu by the middle of fall," Katara stated tonelessly, finally coming to an understanding of the situation.

Realization dawned to Zuko as well. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, when he felt the restless feeling tug at his heart again. He cringed a little and he closed his eyes. But it was stronger now and didn't subside anymore.

As he subconsciously started to control his breathing, he tried to respond to Katara's words, when he suddenly felt his inner fire flaring up, becoming more and more difficult to control. His face suddenly looked ashen.

Katara, feeling the change in his condition, turned to look at him as he tried to suppress his heavy breathing. Her face darkened. "Zuko, what's the matter?" She laid a hand on his arm. "Is it the scar? Look at me, Zuko," she urged, grabbing him by the shoulder. Then, as she gasped in dismay, he crumbled to the ground.

With difficulty he looked up at her. Golden eyes were widened in fear. His hand was clenched to his chest. "Breathing... Inner fire," his voice choked.

Katara felt panic rise as she pulled out her bending water. The sound of hastened footsteps made her look up. From the palace, General Iroh appeared in sight. The old man looked paler than normal, but seemed fine in comparison to Zuko.

"Nephew, are you all right?" He called as he hurried towards them.

"Iroh, I don't know what's the matter with him, he suddenly became like this!" Katara cried, with horror in her voice, but after a sharp glance at his nephew, Iroh didn't seem that interested in Zuko anymore. He looked at Katara expectantly.

"You mean you didn't feel it, too? As a child of the Poles, I would have thought you had noticed it," General Iroh stated solemnly, ignoring her panic.

Frustration built inside her as Katara hauled up Zuko, letting him lean against her body while trying to give him some air.

"What do you mean, Iroh? What do I have to feel? We don't have time for this, something's horribly wrong with Zuko!" she practically yelled, forgetting about her manners.

Iroh still didn't look at his nephew, but focused his gaze on the velvet night sky where mysterious changes where occurring. "Nothing is wrong with him. If he focuses on his breathing..." he suddenly turned around to look at Zuko, a forceful look in his eyes, "and by that I mean, his dragon's breathing, he should be all right."

Zuko closed his eyes at his uncle's words, bowing his head in a silent apology. Before Katara could understand the meaning of Iroh's words, she felt his body calm down as he started to inhale deeply, then heave his head with a fierce look in his eyes and suddenly sighed fire.

The deep, controlled in- and exhales replaced his choked breathing and color returned to his face, as the beating of his heart returned to normal.

Then he slowly rose from the ground, letting Katara's arm glide from his shoulder, and walked with measured steps towards his uncle who stood motionlessly, watching the night sky changing color.

"Care to explain, Uncle?" he asked calmly as he focused his gaze on the sky as well.

Iroh shook his head. "Not without her," he said enigmatically and Zuko turned his head.

"Katara?" He asked and with still widened eyes she slowly went to stand next to him.

"You're all right now?" She asked, looking at him from the corner of her eye, before following the general's gaze. As the panic had subsided, she now began to feel a strange tugging at her heart.

"She feels it, too," General Iroh established. "All bending is connected, so benders from all four disciplines can feel it. However, since firebenders draw their power from the fire within themselves, the phenomenon, as beautiful as it is, can be very dangerous if they lack the proper training to control themselves."

Zuko subconsciously took in a deeper breath at his uncle's mildly reproachful words, while Katara returned her gaze to the lights flickering through the night sky. Looking confused, her gaze was noticed by General Iroh.

"Tell me," he said gently, "have you ever been home long enough since the ending of the war to see the Southern Light?"

Katara visibly paled and bit her lip before she sorrowfully shook her head.

"Uncle…" Zuko started, in an attempt to make the retired general change the subject, but the old man raised a warning hand and he fell silent.

For a moment, the only sounds being heard on the terrace were the excited voices in the city below as the people of Omashu came out of their houses to watch the nightly spectacle. An enormous amount of light speared through the sky in brilliant shades of blue and red, dancing through the starry night sky like water controlled by a master waterbender.

"It's impossible," Katara finally whispered, "the Southern Light is only seen near the South Pole."

"As is the Northern Light near the North Pole," Iroh added, inclining his head. "It is believed by the Fire Sages that the sun has something to do with this brilliant phenomenon and while the lights normally only show themselves to the peoples of water at the poles, on very special occasions it can also be seen in other places of the world."

Then Katara turned around to look Iroh in the eye. "I never had a teacher growing up and the only bending I knew was what I discovered by accident," she said on a level tone of voice, putting into words what the old man had wanted her to understand. "I suspect my sensitivity to the effects of the Southern Light increased with receiving my training at the North Pole."

Iroh nodded in approval at her insightful words. "It has indeed. And because waterbenders are used to adapting, you're not having as much trouble with the influx of power as Zuko."

Involuntarily, Katara's gaze trailed toward her friend and was surprised to see slight admiration in his golden eyes. Hastily, she averted her eyes to the sky, followed by the two firebenders as the dancing lights suddenly seemed to gain in intensity.

At that moment the silhouette of a lotus flower opened up, carrying a flame and ribbons of water in its heart.

Both Zuko and Katara gasped and immediately turned towards each other. Their eyes locked. And they knew; this wasn't the first time the other one had seen this symbol appear. Upon that realization, they bowed their heads in acceptance, expecting what was coming when Iroh, who had been watching their reactions sharply, spoke up again.

He closed his eyes and deeply inhaled before continuing. "This is a sign from the spirits. The two people who hold the fate of the Order of the White Lotus and the world in their hands, have arrived in Omashu, the city of balance."

As he spoke, Iroh's attitude changed into that of the revered Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus. It was time.

"This night you both will leave to find Princess Ursa." It wasn't a request. "You are to travel light, taking nothing with you but the bags left for you in your rooms and the ostrich-horses set apart for you in the stables. Saying goodbye is not allowed, I will take care of Aang and Mai. Zuko, you already left the Fire Nation in the care of your Prime Minister. I will also keep an eye on the Council of Ministers during your absence. Head first for Kyoshi Island. From there you will have to find your own way. You have until the last day of fall to find Princess Ursa."

Iroh reached into his Earth Kingdom robes and withdrew two cloak clasps, one silver, one gold, each shaped into the symbol of a lotus.

"These will protect you during your travels. The members of the Order of the White Lotus will always help two of the Young War Heroes who seek to prevent the fall of the white lotus."

Silently they accepted the clasps, not questioning his words, for the Southern Light had erased all confusion. Iroh then turned around again and looked at the sky once again. "You may go. May Agni and La protect you."

The young people inclined their head respectfully to the Grandmaster and quietly took their leave, to prepare for their important quest.

A soft giggle then broke the silence, as the crooked figure of King Bumi appeared from behind a column. "They took it rather well."

Iroh bowed his head. "It's up to them now."

* * *

**A/N:** _In the story I describe the phenomenon of Aurora Borealis, or, because they are south the equator, Aurora Australis. This phenomenon appears on earth because of solar winds: sudden, nuclear outbursts on the sun, which releases nuclear energy. Normally, the auroras are only to be seen at the poles, but sometimes, when an outburst is extremely powerful (hence Zuko's problem with his inner fire), the light can be seen in other places of the world. For example, in 1859 the light could be seen in Rome, Havana and Hawaii. _

_I want to thank my beta Lieta for keeping the science in this chapter real. _


	6. Radiate

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 6: Radiate**

Music: Patrick Doyle, Science and Magic (Thor)

* * *

A chilly wind lowered the temperature unpleasantly in the night-covered mountains surrounding Omashu as two ostrich-horses swiftly trotted over the mountain tracks, away from the city. While in the distance the Southern Light danced through the sky, a radiant moon had risen, covering the world with a silvery glow.

The cloaked riders remained silent, only turning around occasionally to cast a glance at the disappearing city. After their talk with Grandmaster Iroh, Zuko and Katara had avoided each other's gaze as they had silently returned to their rooms, finding the bags Iroh had spoken about on their beds.

* * *

After changing into the black, nondescript shirt and trousers she had found on the bed next to the traveling bag, Katara put an extra water pouch filled with fresh water into the bag and braided her hair. Then she put on the heavy woolen cloak, which hid her mother's necklace from view, and fastened the silver lotus clasp.

She felt herself drawn to the mirror as she swung the bag over her shoulder, ready to leave. It was like seeing the Katara from three years ago staring back at her, only now with more mature features, ready to go find her mother's killer. But this time she didn't see rage or sadness in her ocean blue eyes. Instead, her eyes shone with a quiet determination and a hint of excitement, which Katara felt a little guilty for.

Momentarily, she let her eyes rest upon the door between her room and Aang's and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry Aang. Iroh will explain it to you," she whispered, closing her eyes. Then she hurried out of her room, her braid dashing after her.

* * *

Zuko, using his Blue Spirit stealth, had reached his chambers without being caught by any of his men. He expected the Chamberlain to be asleep in the room next to his, but he still remained very quiet as he slowly pulled out his topknot by removing his crown.

When he felt his hair fall over his forehead, longer now, he noticed the similarity with that moment three years ago when he had left almost without notice, too. At least Mai now knew beforehand where he was and she didn't care, he thought wryly as he quickly disrobed himself and put on the loose black clothing.

He recognized them as being copies of the clothes he used to wear as the Blue Spirit and he almost expected to see a blue and white mask grinning back at him, when he looked into the mirror. It actually felt nice to wear those clothes again as he was able to move around more freely in them than in his heavy silk robes. He looked forward to being able to sink back into anonymity for a little while.

Finally, Zuko ducked under his bed and pulled out his Dao swords. Standing up he swung them over his back in one, fluent movement. The golden lotus clasp on his dark cloak shimmered in the process. Then he quietly went to the stables.

* * *

Because of the Southern Light, the city, which should be deathly quiet at this hour, was still crowded with people watching the phenomenon in awe and children running around happily.

To avoid being recognized, Zuko and Katara led their ostrich-horses through little alleys, silently hoping for the fuss to last long enough for them to leave the city before the spectacle would have ended.

The spirits must have helped out, though, because they reached the gates without any problems and the guards, apparently instructed, just inclined their heads and let them pass unhindered.

A few moments later they found themselves following the deserted path through the mountains, quickly putting a growing distance between them and Omashu. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts, so they didn't speak for a while. They were still processing all that had happened to them, in less than a day's time.

Turning around, Katara looked at Omashu one last time, before it disappeared from view as she rounded a corner on the path.

The Southern Light slowly dimmed and then disappeared too.

Katara sighed. A few days ago she was still on her never ending travels around the world, feeling weariness slowly taking over completely as Aang didn't want to hear about, at least, a pause. Then they were summoned to Omashu, where she had been sent away on a new journey almost immediately, only this time without Aang.

Katara worried about Aang's reaction and hoped that Iroh could explain why she had left so suddenly, although she herself still couldn't quite grasp what had made her comply with Iroh's request so easily. It could have been a sudden urge to help Zuko, to help the Order of the White Lotus and, above all, Iroh's persuasion, she thought as her ostrich-horse rounded another corner and Zuko's cloaked silhouette came back into view. Maybe, in the time that she was absent, Aang would change his mind on their never-ending travels and they could settle down for a while, Katara mused, a little hopefully.

* * *

For a while, the two travelers on the ostrich-horses silently rode single-file, their view limited by the vast walls of rock bordering them. Then Zuko turned around, smiled awkwardly and suggested they take a break near a small mountain lake Zuko remembered from his journey to Omashu.

They sat down next to a puny little tree, which had already lost all of its leaves and opened their bags, in search for some food.

Grateful for the distraction given by the rummaging through the bags, they kept their heads down, not knowing what to say to each other now that the impact of Iroh's influence and the wonder of the Southern Light had lessened. Until now, they hadn't realized they were being forced to undertake a grave mission together after they'd only rarely seen each other within the past three years.

Eventually, Katara looked up from her bag, watching Zuko as he silently went through his stuff, messy black strands of hair falling over his forehead, hiding most of his face.

"What do you have in there?" she asked, opening a conversation.

Surprised, he looked up and ran a hand through his hair as he answered, "Nothing special. The usual survival kit, blanket, some Earth Kingdom money..."

He ducked into his bag again, deeper this time, grabbing a wrapped package probably hiding the food underneath it. Zuko wanted to put it aside, but something familiar about it made him stop. Hesitantly, he put both hands in the bag and started to unwrap the package. Then his eyes widened in shock.

There, in his hands, lay a blue and white mask grinning up at him. It was startlingly similar to the one he had thrown into Lake Laogai after he'd set Appa free.

Completely taken aback, he turned it around and to his surprise a note fell out of the mask. Unfolding it, he immediately recognized his uncle's old-fashioned handwriting.

* * *

_Zuko,_

_When one is traveling with The Painted Lady, an equal amount of spirit force is needed._

_Uncle Iroh_

* * *

Katara had been watching with growing curiosity when Zuko searched his bag, then suddenly stiffened and fixed his eyes on something that was inside the bag. Maybe a nasty insect had slipped into it, she pondered, grinning inwardly.

Her smirk faltered when Zuko suddenly raised his eyes and stared at her with a strange look in his eyes: a mixture of reminiscence and fascination.

He knew it had been Katara who had acted like The Painted Lady once. It had been in that horrendous play at Ember Island. But now, without the bad comedy surrounding the melodramatic actress, it hit him that it had really been this unpretentious girl who was sitting across of him in baggy, inconspicuous, travel clothing who had been the powerful waterbending healing master that had brought the village of Jang Hui its salvation as the mighty spirit The Painted Lady. She had been the inspiration behind his initiation of the Parliamentary Committee for Public Health, his favorite subject by far, although he had never been able to explain why. Now, it almost felt like he had done it all for her...

His eyes rested on Katara's surprised features as she sat across from him, seeming to radiate in the silvery light the moon cast on her, her skin and hair glowing softly as her eyes, still glistening in shock, shone like sapphires. She could easily pass for a spirit right now, Zuko noticed and he felt his heart unwillingly skip a beat.

Katara felt her cheeks heating up under his fascinated gaze and glanced to her side. "What is it?" She asked self-consciously as her hands restlessly smoothed her clothing. Something about his intense gaze made her nervous. It had always made her nervous whenever he'd looked at her that way.

The sound of her voice seemed to pull Zuko from his thoughts and he lifted the note. "My uncle reminded me of the fact that you saved the people of Jang Hui as The Painted Lady," he explained, appreciation lacing his voice.

Katara's eyes widened and she flushed in embarrassment. "I merely used the disguise of The Painted Lady because otherwise the villagers would never have let a waterbender help them. And I wasn't alone, the others helped out, too."

Zuko's scrutinizing gaze softened somewhat under her apparent discomfort. "But it was a great accomplishment. Your story is famous in the Fire Nation and The Painted Lady has never been so revered. I've visited Jang Hui and the change you made is simply astonishing. It actually inspired me to expand the High Council with a public health committee and invite Waterbending Healing Masters to train our healers. Thank you," he concluded genuinely as he momentarily changed into the Fire Lord, grateful to the master healer for saving a district of his country.

Katara smiled a little proudly and graciously bowed her head to him. Then she suddenly looked up again, eyes sparkling. "I did actually see her, The Painted Lady, you know," she confessed, "although Sokka never believed me. She's a beautiful spirit and she thanked me for cleaning her river."

Though Sokka might have been, Zuko wasn't surprised.

"Sokka isn't right this time, I've seen her, too," he said carefully, suddenly not daring to look Katara in the eye, as if afraid she would read in his what The Painted Lady actually had said to him. He contemplated how much he should tell her. "She appeared in my mother's turtle duck pond and left a white lotus in the water," he decided to take the safe route.

"A white lotus," Katara whispered. "Just like at the geysers…"

Zuko remembered the moment in Omashu when they had looked at each other upon the appearance of the white lotus in the sky. He had seen the same recognition, the same astonishment in her eyes and at that moment he had known she had seen the symbol as well. He looked at her quizzically.

"I subconsciously bent water into the flower's symbol in the steam coming from the hot springs," Katara explained at seeing his questioning gaze. Then they both fell silent. Did the Order of the White Lotus' influence go that far, that they could prepare them for their journey to come, through spirits and mental images like Katara's bent lotus flower?

As they stared at each other somewhat fearfully, a discomforted silence settled between them and fear for what lay ahead of them started to seep into their hearts. The lighthearted atmosphere disappeared immediately as a gush of wind blew through the inaccessible mountain range.

Shaking off the eerie feeling, Zuko cast another glance at his uncle's note and made a decision. Pulling the mask from his bag, he revealed one of his biggest secrets to the waterbender. The moment the thin blue metal caught her gaze, she recognized it. Her eyes widened.

"That mask…" she gasped, sitting up straight as she stared at the grinning mask. "It's the Blue Spirit's!"

He nodded silently and her startled gaze met his. "_You_ are the Blue Spirit?" She looked positively astonished now, her mouth hanging open as she processed this, then shook her head. "I can't believe it… Your wanted poster was all over the Earth Kingdom!"

Despite himself, Zuko smirked, feeling a bit proud of himself as he saw Katara's astonished expression. The Blue Spirit had become legendary in the Earth Kingdom, a noble thief who had defied the Fire Nation suppressors all by himself. That he was, in fact, the Fire Lord himself was a hard thing to grasp.

Katara now looked at him with barely concealed admiration, which he had to admit flattered him, then she seemed to remember something.

"At the Western Air Temple, Aang told us that it was you who saved him from Admiral Zhao and in the play we saw at Ember Island he was saved by the Blue Spirit..." she said thoughtfully, finally putting things together.

"Ah well," Zuko said embarrassedly, trying to hide his red cheeks by looking away, "let's not talk about that play, shall we?"

At that moment Katara made the mistake of looking at him and when their eyes met, they both blushed a crimson red. Quickly averting her eyes, Katara cleared her throat and said, "I should have known it was you. The Blue Spirit was famous for his swordsmanship with Dao swords."

The indirect compliment caused Zuko's face to heat up again and he stared pointedly at the scrawny tree behind them. "So, why didn't you actually tell us before?" he heard Katara ask quietly and he shrugged.

"It isn't something I'm really proud of. The only good I've done with the mask is to set Appa free in Lake Laogai. Uncle pressed me into throwing the mask away after I did that, although he now seems to think I need it again. Back then I only wanted to save Aang to catch him myself. Before that, I only used the mask to steal food and stuff for my uncle and me to survive," he said, while absentmindedly playing with the mask.

"Still..." Katara looked thoughtfully at the small mountain lake, a dark pool of endless depth in the moonlight, as she remembered the moment in the Western Air Temple when Sokka used almost the same words to negate Zuko's actions to save Aang.

She shook her head. Zuko was too hard on himself. "If you hadn't taken Aang from Admiral Zhao, Sokka and I would probably be dead."

Upon seeing his shocked gaze, she explained, "Aang was trying to catch some frozen wood frogs in the swamp to cure us with."

"Frozen frogs?" He asked confusedly. Then his face lit up. "So, that's why Aang kept whining about his frogs!"

He laughed genuinely and Katara gladly joined him, picturing how Zuko would have struggled to pull an obstinate Aang with him.

"What were you supposed to do with them?" He asked while still laughing and Katara shivered at the memory.

"Suck on them," she replied with feeling and watched contently as his face contorted in a disgusted grimace.

After a peaceful silence, they finally started to eat the bread they had found in their bags as Katara searched with no avail for a present from Iroh in her own bag.

"He could at least have given me a rice hat," she grumbled disappointedly, knowing that such a thing was way too big to carry in her bag anyway. But Zuko chuckled and she hesitantly smiled back as some of their initial awkwardness had vanished into the cold autumn air.

While silently eating her bread, Katara watched Zuko as he meticulously studied the mask his uncle had given him for any differences with his old mask. He seemed glad to have it back, judging by the excited expression on his face, which he didn't succeed in hiding. Never having been able to contemplate that before, it struck her that the difference with the angry prince who had invaded her village or the saddened boy she had met in the crystal caves of Ba Sing Se, couldn't be larger.

She studied him as he brushed strands of his black hair from his eyes, bringing the mask closer to his face for examination. A small smile played on his calm features, his intense golden gaze tempered by a happiness he hadn't known until after he had joined the Avatar. He radiated confidence.

Katara didn't want to know why her breath caught for a split second.

"So..." she said randomly, "We both tend to act like spirits, huh?"

Zuko nodded. It seemed so.

From the corner of her eye, Katara looked at the mask. "It's blue," she stated the obvious.

Her companion nodded again, a small smile appearing on his lips. "Yeah."

Katara rolled her eyes with a sigh as she brushed off the subject. She rose from her uncomfortable seated position and went to fill her water pouches with water from the lake. When she straightened up, she felt his questioning gaze on her back.

"It's good water," she said, without turning around. "Very pure. Much easier to handle."

"I see," Zuko said, thinking about the crystal vial she'd once showed him, which had held water from the Spirit Oasis. He unconsciously rubbed his scar and then started to clean up.

* * *

The night was well advanced when they reached a crossroads. Seven paths radiated in all directions, leading to unknown places along the wide mountain range. Only one of the roads would lead to the plains between the mountains and the port where they would catch a ship to Kyoshi Island. Large clouds blocked their view ahead and the ancient signpost proved to be completely useless when Zuko dismounted his ostrich-horse and wiped away the dirt on the small stone.

"Can't you remember what direction you came from?" Katara asked from atop her ostrich-horse, trying to keep the restless beast from randomly picking a path, because it spotted grass between some rocks.

Zuko shook his head. "I think I was asleep at the time. It's horribly tiring sitting in a rocking palanquin all day, seeing nothing but the red drapes surrounding you."

"Oh, the burdens of a king," Katara sighed dramatically.

"Hey!" Zuko called indignantly, then turned around, smiling deviously. "Watch what you're saying, Your Royal Highness!" He gave back. "I can remember a certain Princess of the Southern Water Tribe who couldn't stop complaining about the uncomfortable dress she wore on her father's inauguration day."

Katara scowled and slumped back in her saddle, defeated. "That dress really hurt," she murmured with a pout. "And I liked the 'peasant' much better."

Zuko's responding smirk disappeared when it slowly started to rain, limiting their view even more and making the paths dangerously slippery. 'This isn't good,' Zuko thought worriedly, as he narrowed his eyes at the quickly increasing rainfall.

Pulling up his hood, Zuko mounted his ostrich-horse again and led the animal to stand next to Katara's. He grabbed her reins to prevent her ostrich-horse from wandering off again.

"Since I'm the more experienced tracker, I would say let me choose the path we're taking," he said, referring to the time he was chasing Aang, while scanning the different paths.

Katara glanced at him from under her hood. Little of his face was visible, only his almond shaped, golden eyes glistened from underneath the hood.

"You are enjoying this, do you?" She asked pointlessly, to postpone the moment she had to admit the truth in his words.

To her surprise he actually smiled warmly at her. "Yes, I am," he said, before turning around his ostrich-horse to go by every single possibility.

At that moment the moon peeked through the clouds and sent a single beam to earth, right on the fourth path from where they came from. Zuko and Katara both looked up and saw the vague silhouette of a girl in front of the moon, quickly drawing near. A beam of moonlight cast a gleam on her ethereal features.

"Princess Yue," whispered Katara at the same moment as Zuko whispered, "Sokka's former girlfriend."

Katara's head snapped up in surprise, but before she could say anything, the moon spirit approached them and smiled at Zuko. "That's right. He has never forgotten. I will love him forever, but I'm glad that he's happy now."

She gracefully turned her head towards Katara and said with emphasis, "This sacrifice I made to save the world. And, Sokka has found someone who balances him perfectly."

Katara bowed her head in confusion. She didn't understand why the moon spirit so pointedly addressed her.

Princess Yue smiled again and elaborated, "I've been sent to show you the way. Remember that under the current Avatar the Avatar Cycle will reach completion in this season of fall. I will leave you now and may La be with you on your journey."

With that she slowly retreated until the clouds completely hid the moon from view again.

Zuko was the first to come to his senses again and he hesitantly put a hand to Katara's arm, trying to get her attention, but also to comfort her. She seemed to be lost in thought, conflicting feelings passing over her features.

"Shall we go, then? We need to find a place for shelter and to get some sleep," he asked softly, sympathetically, although he didn't quite understand why.

Katara squeezed shut her eyes before looking up to the cloudy night sky. "Did she say she had been sent?" Katara asked on a strange voice, ignoring Zuko's words.

Zuko, not expecting the question, followed her gaze and felt the cold rainfall down on his face. "Yeah."

Nodding once, she averted her gaze and silently let her ostrich-horse turn. The last he heard before her ostrich-horse stalked off was, "Thank you, Zuko."

* * *

**A/N:** _Since the word radiate has various meanings, I thought it would be nice to incorporate as much of them in this chapter as I could. Here's the result. Also, in addition to the influence of the sun in the previous chapter, I let the moon play an important role in this one. _

_In this chapter Katara also discovers Zuko's alter ego. You could say she already knew, but as the play in EIP only referred to the Blue Spirit as the masked savior of Aang, not in any way connecting him to Zuko (while making an interesting suggestion toward the wonderful yaoi ship of Zukaang ;-), I think I can safely presuppose that Katara doesn't know about his alter ego. _

_For Zuko however, it's different. He knows about Katara's alter ego, but when he thinks about it, he still envisions the horrible actress and bad special effects of the Ember Island Play. In this chapter he finally discovers what Katara being The Painted Lady truly means. _

_To conclude, I want to thank my beta Lieta for her valuable suggestions._


	7. Code

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 7: Code **

Music: Kenji Kawai, The Beginning of the Journey (Folklore)

* * *

Katara left the crossroads as quickly as possible, following the path Yue had pointed out as the correct one. Huddled in her cloak, she tried to find her way in the driving rain as her breath formed icy clouds in the chill of the night.

The cold water started to seep through the tightly woven cloak and slowly cold crept into her stiffening body. She was too lost in thought to notice though, thinking of the words Princess Yue had spoken to her over and over. A disturbing little voice in the back of her head kept telling her the moon spirit had meant for her to reconsider the nature of her relationship to Aang. And that was exactly what Katara had been avoiding for a long time now.

Suddenly, she heard Zuko's voice yelling for her to dismount. Turning her head, she gazed into a gigantic abyss as the ostrich-horse started to slide off the edge. Only a slippery boulder separated the ostrich-horse and its rider from the depths. Katara's heart dropped and with a forceful jerk she tightened the reins. Two nerve-racking seconds later, the animal thankfully obeyed and let himself be directed towards the mountainside. When it ducked for some dry grass, Katara quickly dismounted and instinctively put her hand to her chest to calm herself. That was the moment she discovered the little cave.

Zuko watched her lean back against the mountainside when she suddenly disappeared from his sight with a small yelp. His stomach dropped but to his relief she reappeared almost the same instant, motioning him to join her.

Zuko's concerned expression was replaced by an approving smile when he noticed the small cave as well and with a sigh of relief they left the rain. It was barely more than a crack in the walls, but it was dry and would do for what remained of the night.

* * *

Their first priority was to dry their clothing and Zuko had already started to evaporate the moisture from his clothing, until Katara started to protest because of all the steam he created in the already damp cave. Mumbling an apology, he let her bend the water out of their clothing. With an elegant flick of her wrist Katara directed the glistening stream outside the cave, back into the night.

Zuko then turned his attention to the ostrich-horses, which needed to get unpacked, while Katara attempted to fold her newly dried cloak. However, she miscalculated its weight and let it slip through her fingers. Instinctively, her hand shot out to grab a hold of the woolen annoyance before it hit the ground. At that moment she saw a little folded paper swirl down from the folds.

Zuko, hearing her sudden movement, turned around to see if she was all right. He was confronted with a cloak suddenly being dropped in his arms, while Katara picked up a paper from the ground.

"Looks like I got a present from your uncle after all." Katara's eyes shone happily as she unfolded the paper. "Could you make some light?"

Zuko moved closer, draping the cloak over one arm and produced a small flame as he gazed curiously at the paper.

The yellow fire cast a flickering golden glow over their tired faces and let their shadows dance through the dark cave.

* * *

_Katara,_

_I present you with the task to understand what's described underneath this message before the end of fall. _

_Iroh_

* * *

For a moment, Katara and Zuko just looked at each other, then they started to search the paper for the rest of the message. They turned the paper around and fruitlessly tried to find another layer. But it wasn't there.

As the rain outside gained in intensity, something occurred to Zuko and he frowned in slight irritation, holding the paper above the flame in his palm.

Katara's eyes widened in shock as the fire reflected in her blue orbs. "What are you doing? You will burn it!"

She tried to snatch the paper away, but Zuko neatly evaded her, not averting his eyes from the paper. "I'm not burning it. Look, my funny uncle loves these kind of jokes."

In growing amazement she watched as a text slowly appeared in the margin of the paper. Katara brought her face closer to the paper in Zuko's hand.

"Invisible ink," she whispered, her breath lightly brushing Zuko's hand, causing the flame to flicker a little.

Zuko suppressed a shiver and glanced at her intense face for a moment. Her glistening eyes were fixed on the paper excitedly.

Slowly pulling away his hand, he informed her, "Heat responsive ink, actually."

In the chill of the cave, he let the paper cool down for the characters to stand out more clearly. Then they both leaned in to see the result, heads almost touching in the process. Their eyes frantically searched the writing, only to find out that the text consisted of characters they didn't recognize. A feeling of disappointment again washed over them, as they found out they couldn't read it.

"Of course he used some kind of code language," Zuko grumbled in frustration, lowering the piece of paper. "And he naturally expects us to decipher and solve the riddle before winter."

He took a closer look. "It resembles the ancient script of the Fire Nation," he established, "the Fire Sages are still using it, but this is still so different that I can't translate it."

It didn't surprise Katara that Zuko could read the ancient language of his nation. She figured it had been part of his royal education, momentarily imagining an enormous Fire Temple and a lonely little boy with a high ponytail sitting cross legged in the middle, surrounded by intimidating, silent Fire Sages and walls of fire.

After the near destruction of the Southern Water Tribe, their share of the ancient arts of the Water Tribes had been destroyed and could only be studied at the Northern Water Tribe. Education in general had become a task of the elders. However, her Gran Gran, who had grown up in the north, had taught her and Sokka a few of the ancient characters and she thought she recognized one now.

"This one resembles the ancient Water Tribe character for winter." Katara's finger hesitantly came to rest upon the paper.

Zuko nodded, silently surprised she had been able to learn those things in an almost extinguished world. He pointed at another character. "This one vaguely resembles the ancient Fire Nation character for summer," he supplied, while absentmindedly rubbing his bad eye.

Katara suddenly noticed the hint of tiredness in his voice, raspier than normally, his left eye almost entirely closed. She realized that he probably hadn't slept properly for two nights since he had to make it to Omashu on time only to be sent away again by Iroh on the day of his arrival after being severely affected by the Southern Light. Not a word of complaint had slipped past his lips though.

Suddenly, she felt horribly guilty for not noticing earlier. Though a day later she would blame it on her own exhaustion, she gave into the urge to carefully take away his hand in a caring gesture, her fingers slightly grazing his scar in the process. Surprised by her sudden move he stiffened. Then, he relaxed as his gaze followed her hand lowering his. He looked up, blinking against the waterbender's fixed gaze. Confusedly, he noticed a hint of worry in her eyes that were very blue and very close by.

"I think it's time we got some sleep," he whispered, eyes locking with hers as he closed his other hand and the flame disappeared. Darkness suddenly enveloped them and while they waited to adjust their eyes, Zuko let his hand slip from hers while folding her fingers around the paper she was now holding.

Katara sighed and put the paper in her pocket as she allowed her own exhaustion finally to wash over her. "I liked your present better."

* * *

An irritating pressure against her eyelids slowly woke Katara from her slumber. Squeezing her eyes more tightly, she became vaguely aware of a ray of light hitting her face.

With a small groan, she turned away from the hindering light, only to be surprised by a light chuckle.

Startled by the sound, her eyes fluttered open. She faced an empty sleeping bag next to hers and the rock wall of what appeared to be some sort of cave. It took some time for her to realize where she was.

"I had forgotten how much trouble you have with waking up early," a husky voice spoke up, following the chuckle.

Katara frowned and pulled up her blanket to cover her head. "You used to say that a lot more poetically," the blanket grumbled, but then a hand lightly touched her shoulder.

"Come, I've already packed everything. We're ready to go."

That made Katara look up. Gazing around guiltily she noticed that the sleeping bag that was there only a minute ago was gone. The ostrich-horses were packed and fed and Zuko stood in front of her, a piece of bread in his outstretched hand, looking completely rested.

She sighed and got to her feet. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier, I could have helped you," she said in slight annoyance, though she gratefully took the bread from him.

He turned his back to her and started to fasten her sleeping bag to her ostrich-horse. "You were tired," he replied a bit curtly, "I thought it best to let you sleep a little while longer."

"You were tired, too," Katara mumbled in protest. She blushed when she recalled the moment that she had forgotten herself and taken her tired traveling companion's hand from his marred eye. Her traveling companion who now hastily disappeared between the ostrich-horses to fasten a blanket that already had been fastened.

However, Katara, still musing over his remark, suddenly recalled the time when the Avatar's group was still together and on their way to defeat Fire Lord Ozai. During that time she had been the one to keep them organized and Zuko would help her or take over chores, when she was too tired. She had allowed it silently, gratefully, though she had never acknowledged his help, thinking that he had only been after her forgiveness.

That was before she realized he felt just as responsible for the group's well being as she did, a thing the others never cared about. Not even Sokka, who, at fifteen years old, had been the oldest boy in the group before Zuko's arrival. Zuko had helped with obtaining supplies, divided tasks, and settled arguments between Aang and Toph or Sokka and Toph. He had also used his frightening firebender attitude to get chores done, when Katara had asked someone to do something. During that time he became her back up. She could rely on his help and, knowing she wasn't standing alone anymore, she had loosened up a bit, much to the gang's, and especially Toph's, relief.

Katara suddenly realized how much they had been acting like a father and a mother back then. Her earlier blush turned to a bright red, as she finally comprehended Suki's giggles when she and Zuko had teamed up once again.

She was secretly glad that Zuko couldn't see her blush, when she put on her cloak and mounted her ostrich-horse, following him outside the cave.

* * *

The sun had already evaporated most of the rainwater on the rocks by the time they continued on their way to the mountain range's outskirts safely. A few clouds rested high in the sky, not hindering the rays of sunlight casting a golden glow on the world.

The path down was now broad enough to let the ostrich-horses walk next to each other, while their riders used the time to discuss all that had happened to them the last twenty-four hours.

"Do you think your mother is on Kyoshi Island?" Katara asked thoughtfully, as she cast a glance on the marred part of his face.

He shook his head. "I don't know, but I think we won't find her there. Uncle said we had to start at Kyoshi Island, he never said she would be there. Somehow, I don't think she would be living that far away from the Fire Nation. She loved the Fire Nation and I expect her to be wanting to live as near as would be possible and safe."

Although his face stayed impassive, his voice betrayed whom he really meant when he said the Fire Nation.

"Well, maybe she is, but why would your uncle send us deeper south then? When he knows we only have half a season left to find her. Although it'll be great to see Suki again."

Zuko shrugged, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It's a mystery to me, too. And I keep wondering what her connection is to the Order of the White Lotus and why they haven't attempted to find her earlier, if my mother's that important to its existence."

Katara nodded in agreement. "And what I don't understand either," she supplied, "is the nature of the Order of the White Lotus. I always thought it was some old men's tea group my Gran-Pakku's a member of, bringing together a few talented benders from all nations."

Zuko quietly smiled to himself at her choice of words and said, "The Order of the White Lotus is actually quite a bit larger than just my uncle, your Gran-Pakku and King Bumi. When Uncle and I were on the run for Azula, he got in touch with some lower ranked members in the Earth Kingdom. He used a kind of code word to get in contact with them. They helped us escape from two bounty hunters."

The shiver running down her spine at his last words, Katara couldn't explain.

* * *

"I think we will leave the mountains two hours from now," Zuko estimated the time as, a few hours later, they'd stopped to let their gazes wander over the desolate plains in front of them, two black dots against the yellows of the rocks. The plains looked a lot like the Earth Kingdom desert up north, except for the brown grass waving in the wind as far as the eye reached.

In the distance Katara could see another, albeit shorter, mountain range. At least when they'd reached those plains they could pick up speed for the time they'd lost in the mountains. With a contented sigh Katara raised her face toward the autumnal sun, for a moment basking in its warmth. Then Zuko seemed to tense up suddenly, narrowing his eyes as he stared at a particular point in the distance.

Feeling the change in his mood, Katara turned toward him, but before she could say anything, he had already mounted his ostrich-horse.

The rest of the trip he remained quiet, only speaking with her other to point out a flying mountain-pig-squirrel high above them, which seemed to make him even more closed off than he already was. Katara didn't understand.

As soon as they reached the end of the mountain path, she urged her ostrich-horse to speed up and grabbed Zuko's reins before he could put spurs to his mount.

"I think it's time you tell me what's the matter," she said sternly, making sure he couldn't avoid her searching eyes.

Nevertheless, he frowned and opened his mouth to brush her off, but one deadly gaze from Katara silenced him and he sighed. "See that village over there? I had hoped we wouldn't have to go through it."

He pointed at a barely visible dusty dot in the distance they were heading to.

Katara hadn't noticed it yet and wondered how Zuko could know it was a village. She could only distinguish something that looked vaguely like a watchtower.

"It's the Plains Village. I've been there before, when I..." he closed his eyes for a moment, "when I abandoned Uncle to travel alone."

Katara fell silent. This was something she hadn't expected. She figured it must have been somewhere around the time they met with Toph and it clearly was a painful memory.

"There were these Earth Kingdom soldiers, who bullied that town, terrorizing it under the pretence of protecting the villagers against the Fire Nation," she heard his husky voice quietly explain. He clenched his jaw and balled his fists. "When they turned upon a boy, Lee was his name, and threatened him and his mother about making him a soldier, when he'd already lost his older brother and father to the war, I decided to... call them to account."

His voice turned dark, sending shivers down Katara's spine. Hesitantly she said, "But isn't that good? You protected that boy. His mother must have been grateful. What happened?"

For a moment he didn't answer, just stared at the spot in the distance that was the Plains Village. Then, he closed his eyes, a heavy frown hardening his face as he relived this painful moment in his life. Suddenly, he put the spurs to his ostrich-horse, pulling at the reins to turn the animal in the village's direction.

Katara could only barely distinguish what he said before the ostrich-horse rushed away. It sounded bitter. "They discovered my identity."

* * *

**A/N:** _First of all, I would like to thank all of you who have reviewed the story so far. I'm really glad with the positive response!_

_Things to note about this chapter: _

_When Katara grumbles about Zuko prosaically calling her a sleepyhead, she's of course refering to the: 'You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun.' I couldn't resist ;-)._

_The Plains Village I think you have all recognized from the episode Zuko Alone. It's actually quite close to Omashu and on their route to the harbor. _

_To conclude, I would like to thank my beta Lieta for her precision and rich knowledge of the Avatarverse. _

_Until next chapter!_


	8. Loser

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 8: Loser**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Procession

* * *

By the end of the afternoon, Zuko and Katara had reached the Plains Village. It was a poor little town, dusty, but not as bad off as Zuko remembered it. The little wooden houses had recently been painted and everywhere villagers could be seen doing their daily chores. Some children played tag around the watchtower, to be shooed away by the merchant Zuko recognized from having bought feed for his ostrich-horse three years ago. Life had taken its normal course once more, freed of the paralyzing fear that had held the town captive back then.

Involuntarily, he heaved a deep sigh. He dreaded going into the village. Although it had been three years, he clearly remembered the villagers' rejection. Especially that little boy's: Lee.

The voice of Katara softly speaking next to him startled Zuko. "You know, they promised never to tell anyone, but the villagers of Jang Hui discovered my identity as well. And at first they all turned against me, even the little boy whom I helped by giving him a fish and curing his mother. It didn't matter what I had done for them, they considered me an enemy for being a waterbender."

"They did?" Zuko's voice was even raspier than normal. Clear surprise could be heard in his words. _Had his uncle known this, before he chose Katara to be his traveling companion?_

He cast another look at the village. Katara had voiced the concern he felt, understanding his fears by her own experience. Somehow, this reassured him.

"Yes," Katara nodded, feeling his gaze resting on her. "But there's one difference between you and me back then and our visit to this town now…"

She met his gaze. Her reference to their visit as 'our visit' didn't go by unnoticed by Zuko, who blinked. "… And that's that I had friends who stood up for me back then, just like I will stand up for you now when necessary."

A strange warmth started to spread from the pit of Zuko's stomach as he watched Katara looking at him pointedly, knowing that she meant it.

He smiled genuinely, one of those times his whole face lit up, and despite herself Katara felt something stir inside of her.

"Thank you," he said. Then they quietly entered the little town square, not noticing the pair of candid green eyes studying them from the dark.

* * *

Upon their arrival, Zuko and Katara dismounted and looked around. They were followed by the curious stares of the villagers, watching their every step. Apparently, not a lot of strangers put in at the village.

Zuko let some of his hair fall over his face to cover his scar and stayed inconspicuously in the background as Katara approached the food merchant.

From the dark, the pair of glistening green eyes flashed from Katara to Zuko and stayed upon the young man.

"May I buy some feed for the ostrich-horses," Katara asked with a clear voice, her big smile and shining blue eyes drawing all of the attention to her.

The merchant nodded. "You're not from around here, are you?" He inquired, though not unfriendly, casting a swift glance at Zuko, who stood in the shadows of the ostrich-horses. "You and your husband are from the Water Tribes, I see."

Katara flushed at the impudent hint toward their marital state and involuntarily cast a look at Zuko from the corner of her eye. He had his gaze averted and seemed to look around with those almond shaped, golden eyes of his and suddenly a giggle of nervousness threatened to escape her, at the thought of Zuko being Water Tribe. Feeling the merchant's gaze on her, she decided it safer to play along and cleared her throat. "Yes, we are," she then intoned with an indulgent smile.

Pleased with his perceptiveness the merchant continued piling up her orders.

Zuko, unaware of what was being said, scanned the surroundings with restless eyes, feeling haunted by the past. His eyes lingered on the place where he fought Gow, the leader of the Earth Kingdom thugs, and had revealed his identity, driven by false pride and frustration. Bitterly, he shook his head. _What a fool he had been._ Looking back he could understand why the villagers had rejected him. At the end, he had been the loser in a fight for trust. If only he had realized it back then.

His hand subconsciously clenched the ivory dagger in his pocket. Right now, he only hoped that Katara would finish their business quickly so they could go on and leave this dreadful place behind.

He turned back again and for a moment thought he saw someone, something, staring at him from behind the merchant's stall, but when he focused on the pair of eyes, they had disappeared in the shadows.

"Ehhmm... could you help me with this?" Zuko heard Katara asking quietly, as she searched her bag for money, clearly avoiding calling him by his name. He nodded silently and loaded the bags onto the ostrich-horses. Then, Katara mounted hers again, quickly followed by Zuko.

With a relieved sigh, he took the reins, anxious to leave as Katara cast him a worried look. The ostrich-horses then started to move.

"Sir?"

Zuko froze.

* * *

It wasn't until a moment later that Katara realized that her traveling partner wasn't following her anymore. She looked back to see Zuko's ostrich-horse standing still on the dusty town square, while Zuko sat motionless in his saddle, eyes wide in shock. A barefoot boy of about twelve years old, dressed in simple clothes and with messy hair, stood at a little distance behind Zuko's ostrich-horse. His arch face showed tension, a hesitant look in his frank green eyes.

Katara saw that Zuko slowly closed his eyes as he bowed his head, a weary expression passing over his face. Then she understood that he had been recognized.

Sympathy for him wrenched her heart as she turned halfway in her saddle, contemplating how she could come to his aid without engendering more suspicion.

"Sir...?" The boy asked again, his voice trailing off hesitantly.

Zuko glanced sideways at the ground. "Yes?" He finally responded curtly, his voice low and tense, as he turned around a bit. Gold eyes met green ones.

The boy's mouth fell open and slowly a crooked smile broke through on his grubby face. "It is you! It is you! I knew it!" He started to jump up and down enthusiastically. "I could recognize you from miles away!"

Disturbed from his business the merchant looked up, his attention drawn to the commotion. He bowed over his merchandise. "Hi there, Lee, do you know these people?"

Katara's heart skipped a beat. "Lee?" She repeated the name, her shocked gaze coming to rest on a pale Zuko, who was looking down on the jumping boy with wide eyes. He seemed dumbstruck.

The boy noticed his hesitation and he forgot about his excitement, slowly starting to cry. That brought Zuko back to his senses. Within a second, he jumped of his ostrich-horse and knelt down with the boy. Lee immediately hugged him, knocking the air out of him in the process.

"You came back. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," the boy's muffled voice hiccupped from his shirt.

With a helpless and slightly panicked look at Katara, who nodded encouragingly, Zuko let the boy cry on his shoulder, awkwardly patting him on the back to comfort him.

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. It has never been your fault," he said softly, biting back his tears. Before he closed his eyes, Katara saw that they were filled with relief and gratitude.

"You're the one who saved Lee from those bullies!" The merchant realized with growing amazement and mumbles went through the crowd of curious people that had been gathering around the scene.

Zuko looked up from his crouched position and said calmly, "Yes, I am." His golden gaze was firm, not averting anymore as he straightened to his full length. He rested hand on Lee's shoulder as he cast a silencing look on the crowd. "And I'm glad to see Lee's doing so well."

As the crowd lowered their eyes at his wandering gaze, Katara smiled appreciatively. He was handling this well.

But now it finally started to dawn to the merchant. "So, you're not Water Tribe at all!" He exclaimed, causing the crowd to burst into relieved laughter as Zuko raised his eyebrow, silently asking Katara what she had been telling the poor merchant. But Katara could only grin and shake her head.

"Of course he's not!" Lee had stopped crying and started to smile again, looking up proudly at his protector, "He's the Fire Lord." He cast one clever glance at Katara. "And she must be the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, since they're the Avatar's friends."

Shocked whispers ran through the crowd and to Katara's dismay they suddenly sank to one knee, bowing their heads in respect. Not only was she not used to this kind of full honor directed at her, she also didn't expect this reaction from a village that had acted so hostile towards the teenaged Fire Prince only three years ago.

Zuko noticed her discomfort and took her cool, tan hand into his warmer, pale one, smiling reassuringly at her before respectfully asking the villagers to rise again.

It didn't surprise him that even in this desolated corner of the Earth Kingdom people had heard about them and their story. Better than Katara, he understood that the Avatar's group had become legendary as saviors of the world. But, traveling with the Avatar had led her to believe that all the attention always had been focused on just him. She needed to distinguish her own fame and learn to handle it.

Lee had been the only one not bowing, still looking up at Zuko with shining eyes and a big smile on his candid face. "So, you two want to come to the Pig Farm with me? I have tons to tell you!"

Zuko smiled and agreed. And with the eyes of the villagers glued to Zuko's back, the travelers took their ostrich-horses and slowly followed the tirelessly chattering boy, forgetting about their hands still enveloping each other.

* * *

"After you left, I always went to listen when messengers came to tell about the war," Lee told Zuko genuinely, smiling over his shoulder at him, as Zuko looked around and took in the familiar path with the crooked fences. Had it already been three years since he'd taken this path before? It felt like yesterday.

"One day a messenger told us that the Fire Prince had… ehhm, what's the word he used… defected to the Avatar's cause," Lee chattered in the mean time, "and another one told us that the Fire Prince and the Avatar had defeated the prince's father and he was crowned the new Fire Lord. I was the only one to believe that it was you." He turned on his heels and took a few steps backwards, hopefully awaiting Zuko's reaction.

"Thank you," Zuko answered quietly and Lee smiled happily.

After a rare moment of silence, in which Lee just petted the ostrich-horses, Zuko took in a deep breath, readying himself to ask the question he didn't want to ask, but needed to before they arrived at the Pig Farm. "Lee, did... did your father and brother return from the war?"

His hand subconsciously tightened around Katara's, fearing the answer. She automatically squeezed it, before realizing she had been holding his hand ever since they'd walked away from the town square, and quickly slid out of his grip.

Lee stopped in his tracks, letting his head hang. "My father did... But, but... He couldn't find my brother." The boy looked away stubbornly, setting his jaw, determined not to cry again.

Zuko sighed inaudibly. It was as he had feared. "I'm sorry to hear that," he whispered and Lee's frown deepened as he sniffed loudly.

"Hey," Zuko then said softly, ruffling his hair. "Would you like me to teach you wielding the Dao swords again this evening?"

That shook Lee from his saddened state and his eyes widened as he nodded vigorously. Then he ran away to announce their arrival to his parents.

* * *

"That's so awful, losing your brother and not knowing what happened to him," Katara whispered when he disappeared out of ears' reach.

Zuko nodded dejectedly. "His brother had already been sent to the war by those Earth Kingdom soldiers, when I met Lee. His father went away to search for him before I left, but apparently didn't find him."

He sighed, as he once again was confronted with the horrors of a war that his ancestors had started and his father had almost escalated towards the total destruction of the world.

Katara looked at him thoughtfully as he absentmindedly took notice of the familiar chicken-pigs that inhabited the fences near the farm. That meant they could arrive at the farm any minute now.

"You said that you taught him sword fighting, back then. Why did you do that?" She remembered their encounter in the abandoned Mining Town, when he, as always, had been chasing Aang. Although she had learned to know another side of him later on, somehow it didn't fit with her image of him within that moment. Yet he had taken the time to actually do something constructive, by helping a little boy through the loss of his older brother as he momentarily stepped into his place and instructed him in the ways of the sword.

"When I was ten years old I lost my cousin Lu Ten, my uncle's only son, in the war. He had always been like an older brother to me," Zuko quietly explained. "He taught me how to wield the Dao swords, to compensate for my lack of talent in firebending."

Katara blinked at his words. This sounded strange coming from one of the most powerful firebenders in the world, at least of the sane ones, being trained by the Dragon of the West himself. A firebender who had mastered his element directly after he'd defeated his sister.

Suddenly, the memory of Sokka's dejected face flashed into Katara's mind as he said, 'In this group I'm just the guy with the boomerang.'

It struck her that both young men had become excellent, even famous sword fighters, because of their inability to catch up with their younger sister's bending talents.

"The night I was allowed to sleep in the barn at Lee's home, he tried to take away the swords when he thought I was asleep," Zuko continued, lost in memory, "so I decided to give him a little training, like Lu Ten had done for me. Lee's brother usually would have taught him that sort of thing."

"I think you could have been a wonderful older brother, if Azula had only let you," Katara answered quietly.

At that moment Lee came back running, his eyes wet from tears and a furious expression on his face. He stopped before them, panting. "It's my parents. They don't want you to come near the farm."

* * *

**A/N:** _I want to thank all of you who have reviewed this story, especially Ava22! I'm so glad that you like it so far and I love all of your reviews: they are really stimulating. As always I'm grateful for the hard work my beta Lieta puts into checking the chapters. _

_Concerning this chapter: I always wanted Zuko to meet with Lee again since he has changed so much since that episode. I've noticed that I subconsciously used more than one meaning of the prompt. Though not on purpose, as the story almost writes itself, I discovered that this chapter is not only about losing a fight for trust, but also about losing people dear to you. _

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to review!_


	9. Halloween

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 9: Halloween**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Epilogue

* * *

A mildly curious chicken-pig softly clucked as it rested its beady eyes on the three people standing on the dusty road. They were gazing at each other, a lost look in their eyes. The boy wiped the tears from his grubby face with angry movements while the young man crouched down, shaking his head as he quietly spoke some calming words to him. Then the young woman looked up from the scene and turned her head to cast a displeased glance at the farm nearby. Her braid gently billowed in the wind.

The chicken-pig swallowed a cluck, when it met with her ice cold gaze and subconsciously drew in its neck as she quietly said something to the young man to her side. Her voice had a reassuring ring to it despite her apparent anger. After that she determinedly walked away, stared after by the young man, who had a slightly worried expression in his golden eyes.

The small, wooden house lay in the shadow of an enormous boulder made of a similar kind of stone as the mountain spurs surrounding the modest farm. The only other building on the premise was the worn-down barn Zuko had told Katara about. With determined steps, Katara approached the house and gained access, surprising the farmer and his wife.

"I think we have to have a talk," the waterbender said and closed the door behind her.

* * *

With mixed feelings, Zuko watched Katara walk towards the farm with measured steps. From his own experience, he had come to know this frightening side of hers, which he silently called her protection attitude. It was a character trait that Katara usually hid behind her caring nature.

He had to admit that his self-esteem was slightly damaged by the fact that the waterbender felt the need to protect him. He was the Fire Lord, for Agni's sake! He was perfectly capable of standing up for himself. But, he was mostly worried about Lee's parents.

When Katara finally appeared outside with the farmer and his wife, both seemingly in good health, he suppressed a sigh in relief. Lee ran towards his parents, leaving Zuko standing by the fences. He straightened up and slowly stepped forward.

It was a small group of people, their silhouettes dark against the setting sun, who watched the lone young man approaching them with guarded steps. The group remained silent when he stood still, a few steps away from them.

Katara felt a stab in her chest as he looked from one to the other, an expression of deep regret in his golden eyes. Finally, he clasped his hands together in Earth Kingdom fashion and bowed.

For a moment, no one reacted. Then Gansu, a quiet, bearded man carrying the typical Earth Kingdom topknot, stepped forward. "That won't be necessary, Your Majesty," he said. "We were too rash with our conclusions and we ask your forgiveness."

And as Zuko looked up he bowed himself. Sela, a slender woman with melancholy eyes, stood behind her husband and nodded solemnly.

But Zuko shook his head. "You had every reason to be suspicious of me. I can only ask for your forgiveness, instead." His features softened when Gansu straightened up and nodded appreciatively at him. "And please, call me Zuko."

Lee, who had been silent all this time, impatiently looked up at his father. "So, can they stay for the festival, then?"

The tense atmosphere was broken now and Gansu smiled as he ruffled his son's hair, before he looked at Katara and Zuko. "We would like to invite you for the harvest festival tonight."

* * *

"You really didn't need to protect me," Zuko mumbled to Katara as they led their ostrich-horses to the barn, following Gansu. Katara averted her eyes from the flock of grunting cow-pigs and sheep-pigs in the corral next to the barn. "I didn't protect you, I just cleared some things up," she said curtly.

Zuko winced slightly at her sharp words and he cast a hesitant glance at Katara's delighted face as she paused for a moment to pet a sheep-pig that stuck its snout through the crooked fence.

"You... you didn't do anything to them, do you?" He asked carefully and Katara turned around.

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently, "like... bloodbending...?" A devilish smirk appeared on her face and Zuko actually paled.

But then her smirk faltered and she shook her head. "You actually think I would do something like that to these people? They were just worried for the only son they have left. All I had to do was explain your situation. These are good people and they understood right away. Although..." she smiled self-complacently as she followed Gansu inside the barn, "I think that the fact that you're traveling with a member of the Water Tribe convinced them the most."

* * *

"And there's a large bonfire on the town square and lots of food and storytelling and we're all wearing masks to mimic the evil spirits."

Sela had prepared a simple meal before the family went off for the festival and Katara and Zuko were grateful for the first decent diner they had had for days. But Lee could barely contain his enthusiasm as he unceremoniously bolted his diner, fruitlessly admonished by Sela as her guests shared a secret glance at Lee's words. They knew all about wearing masks to mimic spirits.

"I think, Lee, that Zuko and Katara have been to a harvest festival before," Gansu's calm voice broke into his son's excited chatter.

The boy was momentarily taken aback, looking from Katara to Zuko, who nodded confirmatively, but then his eyes lit up once more.

"But not in our village!" He remarked triumphantly and Zuko and Katara laughingly agreed with him.

* * *

Since Zuko had promised Lee to teach him a few sword fighting moves after dinner, the family and Katara had assembled in the recently harvested crop field. Katara found herself sitting next to a slightly worried Sela. Gansu silently stood next to his wife, watching the boys in the field. His face showed mixed feelings. It was clear that he was thinking of his eldest son, Sen Su. Katara felt for the man, who had not been able to retrieve his son from the war. Next to her, Lee's mother nervously fidgeted with her hands.

"Nothing's going to happen to Lee, Sela," Katara quietly said to reassure her. "Zuko's a very careful teacher. I've seen him a thousand times when he taught Aang firebending."

Sela looked up and sighed. "He taught the Avatar firebending?"

Katara nodded and Lee's mother seemed a little reassured.

With her chin cupped in her hand, Katara studied the training session. Zuko, accustomed to audiences, ignored the people at the end of the crop field, stoically explaining a few stances, then showing them in expert movements to a mesmerized Lee, before handing him his precious Dao swords.

Yes, he was the careful teacher she remembered from back when he was teaching Aang, who had been about the same age as Lee at the time. Still, there was a difference in his teaching, she noticed. He appeared to be more patient. Less ruthless.

He had had little time to train Aang back then, and the pressure was high, Katara pondered, searching for an explanation. But she could also see that Lee, who was now mimicking Zuko's stances with a concentrated expression on his face, was far less easily distracted than Aang had been. With all of his old frustration gone, Zuko suddenly strongly resembled his Uncle Iroh as he patiently corrected his student's moves.

And as behind them the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon, Katara's lips curled up in a smile.

* * *

Two hours after dark the family and their guests arrived at the town square, each one of them wearing a different kind of mask. Zuko and Katara had received one from the family's collection along with some Earth Kingdom clothes, as Sela had decided that their traveling clothes weren't appropriate for the festival and needed cleaning anyway.

The small town square had been changed unrecognizably. Hundreds of flickering lanterns hung across the entire square and many turnips and pumpkins, skilfully carved into meanly grinning faces, decorated the food stands. In the middle of it all a gigantic amount of wood had been piled up for the bonfire later that evening.

At the far end of the square a dance floor had been made and there was a puppet-show for the children. Music wove through the murmur of countless voices of people wearing all kinds of demonic masks.

Lee soon disappeared into the crowd, to check out a stand where he could play skittles. Gansu and Sela excused themselves to the dance floor, leaving Zuko and Katara to wander around the festival.

They momentarily looked around, then at each other. Katara could only distinguish a pair of mysteriously glistening, golden eyes behind the cruel black mask, a haunting addition to Zuko's long black cloak. A muffled voice reached her ears as Zuko gestured towards a stand which sold warm caramel apples. She nodded in approval and for a few minutes the couple ate their treat in silent contentment.

Soon thereafter they leisurely started to explore the rest of the festival, for a moment pausing at the children's puppet-show. Consequently, they walked in on a few street artists dressed up in frightening demon costumes trying to scare everyone who was not paying attention. Trying to avoid becoming their next prey, Katara and Zuko exchanged a meaningful look, then plunged into a narrow street, which turned out to lead toward the dance floor.

Upon their arrival, Sela immediately recognized Katara's beautiful, white demon mask with its haughty expression and waved enthusiastically as she took a turn in the traditional Earth Kingdom pair dance.

When the last tones of the dance died away, the leader of the band took the floor and announced with a spooky voice, "Next will be a Water Tribe dance, as the people of the Water Tribes are famous for their haunting ghost stories."

It wasn't until he nodded pointedly at Katara while gesturing toward the dance floor, that she recognized the food merchant from this afternoon. Her eyes widened in surprise as he picked up his liuqin.

A few couples left the dance floor while others took their places and Sela beckoned her guests to join in on the dance.

"Would you care to dance?" Zuko asked dryly, as if finally acknowledging the hints.

"I guess," Katara sighed in defeat and took his outstretched hand. Swiftly, he led her to the dance floor, positioning himself in front of her.

Thank La, they both knew this one, actually having danced this particular dance with each other before, Katara noticed in relief before the music started to play. It was a common dance, well known to the other nations.

Then she felt Zuko's hands land on her shoulders, gently leading her into a turn and the dance began.

Characteristic for Water Tribe dances were the fluid movements, expressing the pushing and pulling of the tides. Dance partners cooperated in an elegant symbiosis to gracefully flowing music. The dances were much different from the stubborn, angular Earth Kingdom dances or the proud and fiery Fire Nation ones.

Katara slowly turned to the music, bowing gracefully as if slipping away from her partner's grasp, which Zuko prevented by sliding forward and scooping her in his arms, only to have her escape from him once more. Only their gazes remained locked as they circled around each other, mirroring each other. The couples around them did the same thing.

As the music went on, the repetitive movements drew Zuko and Katara into the dance, their bodies responding perfectly to the other's, in a silent recognition of belonging.

Behind the white mask, Katara's eyes widened as she felt herself drown in the pair of glistening, golden eyes while she and Zuko performed the ancient Water Tribe dance. She was acutely aware of him, the way he pulled her in, the fleeting feeling of his warm body against hers, before she would step back again, the way his mesmerizing gaze held hers captive while he led her into a turn. Her body became synchronized with his in a way that had the blood rush through her veins as she forgot about everything around her but for his presence and the look in his eyes.

Unnoticed by the dancing couple, the audience standing around the dance floor watched in growing admiration as they whirled around each other, mimicking the never ending influence of the moon on the ocean while performing the graceful dance into perfection. It was a beautiful yet haunting sight of billowing, black cloaks and frightening masks in flickering lantern light. Streaks of dark cruelty clashed against icy arrogance, becoming one in a dance of harmony.

Zuko's heart pounded in his ears as her lithe body danced into his arms, resting there for a moment, only to leave him again. Her cloak hid most of her form but he could still see the grace in her movements, the way she turned around him, her small hand on his arm to support her. He sensed a faint melancholy as he completed a turn around her himself, then, as she gracefully approached him once more, the look in her eyes made his heart skip a beat and he forgot all about his surroundings, mesmerized by the lovely waterbender behind the cold, white mask.

When the music almost came to an end, Katara and Zuko slowly, solemnly moved towards each other, for the last pose of the dance. It was a tranquil, intimate moment in which both dance partners, from a position next to each other, put an arm around each other's waist, while turning a complete circle, as they slightly leaned in. The moment when Tui and La finally met.

Two dark cloaks merged to one, as hands, carefully placed, met with warm bodies, hips touching as they turned around and sapphire eyes locked with amber ones once more, black and white demon masks separated by mere inches.

Then there was an almost inaudible gasp.

As the last tones of the music disappeared in the night, the couple remained standing in their position, motionless as if paralyzed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Water Princess and the Fire Lord," the merchant announced with a strange voice. An applause rose up from the heavily impressed audience.

His voice jolted Katara and Zuko back to reality. At that moment, they noticed in alarm that the dance floor was empty but for them. With bewildered gazes they searched for their hosts and found them somewhere between the staring crowd. Gansu smirked at them and whispered something into his wife's ear to which she nodded and smiled.

Katara's eyes widened and hastily she let go of Zuko, who pointedly avoided her gaze, suddenly grateful for the mask. She felt a tug to her sleeve and with a bow to the public, they disappeared from the dance floor as quickly as possible.

On their own accord, their feet brought them to an open place at the square where they found a lot of people sitting on benches. They sat down on one of the few empty spots left, trying to catch their breaths. Neither of them dared to look at the other directly, confused by the intense feelings that still rushed through them after they'd left the dance floor. What had happened just there? Unexpectedly, the dance had stirred something inside of them that still caused them to cast a glance at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. An awkward silence cascaded on them.

"Mai would..."

"Aang and I..."

They both glanced at each other, then hastily averted their gazes to the ground. They weren't interested in what the other had to say about the people they had left behind. And suddenly, they missed the light hearted atmosphere from before the dance.

That was, until a small, red devil sitting on the ground before them, drew their attention as he pointed at a stage in front of them, Zuko and Katara hadn't noticed yet. It was Lee, looking up at them with an excited expression on his features. "Zuko! Katara! Look! The storyteller! You're just in time."

The devil turned his back on them again, anxious not to miss anything of what was about to happen on stage.

Grateful for the distraction, Zuko and Katara followed his gaze as relieved smiles crept over their lips. At that moment, an old man with long white hair and an even longer beard, shuffled onto the stage and smiled at the audience. He wore a strange mixture of silk and velvet robes in brilliant colors, clashing with his clever green eyes.

Lee turned around again and whispered, "The storyteller lives in the mountains. Only once a year he comes down to the village to tell his stories at the harvest festival. They say he's a thousand years old!"

That seemed to be taking things a little too far, although Zuko and Katara weren't too surprised either. Didn't they already know at least two people who lived to be more than a hundred? And they had to admit that the storyteller did look very old to them.

"Welcome, welcome, my dear villagers," the old man greeted his audience, all whispering breaking off abruptly.

Katara immediately felt entranced by his fragile but enthralling voice. This was a real storyteller speaking, although he'd only welcomed them.

"Ah, what story to tell this year? What story to tell this year?" He mused out loud, his old eyes wandering over the crowd. Nobody reacted, patiently waiting for the man to come to a decision. They were fine with all of his stories, as long as he told them.

Katara momentarily got distracted when Zuko put down three cups of tea and sat down next to her. For the first time since they'd left the dance floor, their gazes crossed and she nodded gratefully at him, glad for his considerateness. His somewhat tense gaze softened as Katara folded her cold hands around the cup and Zuko presented the red devil with a cup as well.

Unnoticed by the three of them, the storyteller had been watching with interest as Zuko returned with the steaming cups.

The young people were not from around here, he established, and they were with little Lee. For a moment, his gaze lingered on them, their faces hidden behind the obligatory masks. The woman gratefully accepted a cup of tea from the man who now pushed back his dark cloak, and sat down. His impressive posture was still conspicuous among the villagers even when seated.

As they turned their attention to the storyteller, the light of the countless lanterns suddenly cast a shimmer on a pair of gold and silver lotus clasps, to which the old man closed his eyes and smiled.

"Welcome my friends," he said. "This year I will tell you the tale of the Spirit Princess."

A contented sigh went through the female part of the crowd, as some of the men grumbled, but still stayed full of attention. Then the storyteller took a deep breath and started his story.

"This story takes place, when the three nations were still at war. The Avatar had yet to reveal his existence and the world was cold and dangerous. Many years passed in sorrow as Taku was demolished and Ba Sing Se became a fortress. Prosperity had left the once healthy lands of the Earth Kingdom and people slowly lost their hope for peace as the Avatar cycle seemed to be broken forever..."

The storyteller paused and a collective sigh went through the crowd as Zuko shifted uncomfortably on his seat. He wasn't sure if he liked this story that much. He cast a glance at Katara who seemed to be giving her full attention to the storyteller, a captivated expression in her glistening eyes as she rested her chin in her hands. Zuko sighed resignedly and hoped that the story would be over soon.

"When summer turned into autumn once again, the season of the Air Nomads, a whispering began to spread through the Earth Kingdom. Whispers of a mysterious young woman, ever dressed in white, who traveled through the land of the earthbenders, accompanied by nine helpers. Nine silent young men, nobility speaking from their handsome features. They were devoted to her service, ever clad in dark blue. Nobody knew where she came from, or where she went, but it was believed she came from overseas."

The audience surrounding the storyteller had become death quiet as they hung on his words.

"Tales tell of her ethereal beauty, her shining appearance and the unparalleled loyalty of her companions. Wherever she arrived, the beautiful white lady helped everyone in need and her fame grew as more people met with her. She created hope in a hopeless world, assisted by the young men. It was told that the white lady was a princess to the spirit world, sent to earth with her nine vassals to help the people of the Earth Kingdom. She became known as the Spirit Princess."

Katara and a lot of other women let out a dreamy sigh as the storyteller's words trailed away.

Then he cast a sharp glance at his audience. "The powers of the Spirit Princess however, did not limit themselves to helping individual Earth Kingdom citizens... Far more important was that she had the power to defy the Fire Nation."

A murmur went through the crowd. Although the princess had come from the spirit world, it seemed impossible to withstand the mighty Fire Nation army with just nine helpers.

"One day the Spirit Princess and her helpers arrived at a small city in the southeast of the Earth Kingdom, which had been occupied by the Fire Nation. Seeing all of the evil that happened to the poor inhabitants, she respectfully requested an audience with the Fire Nation commander who had replaced the mayor in the town hall." The storyteller was silent for a moment and closed his eyes for dramatic effect. He lowered his voice.

"The commander was rude to the Spirit Princess, lacking the proper respect he was obliged to pay to this deity. He had been the first. All of the other governors and officers she had addressed before, had crumbled to the ground for her. At seeing his disrespectful treatment of her, the Spirit Princess merely closed her eyes and said, 'so be it, then.'"

The storyteller let his eyes wander over the crowd that listened to his story in fascination. The young strangers were no exception. Even Zuko had forgotten about his previous reservations and listened with quiet attention.

"As the commander sat back in the mayor's chair, laughing sarcastically, the young men who had not left the princess's side until then, suddenly disappeared, taking with them everyone who had been witnessing the confrontation.

'It seems that your men have left you, little princess. Shouldn't you retrieve them from the spirit world?' The commander snorted and smirked, bowing forward to reveal yellow teeth between fleshy lips."

The people in the crowd cringed at his contemptuous words and Zuko subconsciously clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white, though he couldn't explain the anger suddenly flaring up inside of him.

"The Spirit Princess however, looked up again, a calm authority in her otherwise kind eyes.

"'They went away because I've ordered them to, Commander. They're bringing the innocent people into safety,' she said sternly, though her face was saddened.

"The commander's eyes widened at this, and he opened his mouth to respond to the outrageous threat he sensed underneath her words, but he was cut off by the deity.

"'It can't be helped,' she decided. 'You won't acquiesce to my simple request to stop terrorizing this city. Therefore, this town hall will cease to exist from this moment of.'

"Her eyes narrowed as she suddenly widened her arms with a fast and determined movement, pointing towards the floor, her closed fist opening. Suddenly, a bright, white light appeared, swallowing everything in its proximity, and within seconds the town hall had been completely covered in an unbearable, blinding light, setting ablaze the surroundings. The last that was seen of the Spirit Princess before she disappeared were her raging eyes and waving dark hair."

A gasp went through the crowd.

"The town hall burned down to the ground," the storyteller continued in a grave tone, then looked up to meet the shocked looks of his audience. "But..." he continued loftily, "the surprise was great when the Commander, completely dazed, tripped out of the building before it collapsed. The Spirit Princess had been merciful..."

The audience sighed and relaxed, glad that their Spirit Princess didn't have blood on her revered hands.

"The next day, the Commander and his troops left the city as quickly as possible, claiming there was no strategic importance to it anyway, leaving the town to its inhabitants once more."

The storyteller took a deep breath, almost sighed."The Spirit Princess and her mysterious vassals had disappeared, though, and witnesses of her travels through the Earth King's realm dried up as time passed. People say that she returned to the spirit world once the Avatar came back to our world, or that she's still around somewhere, quietly helping people who need her. Nobody has ever seen her since the Avatar came back... But sometimes, once a year... on the evening of the harvest festival, a young girl claims that a handsome young man, clad in blue, has danced with her, before mysteriously disappearing to follow a beautiful woman in a white dress..."

The storyteller's voice trailed away slowly, allowing his audience to come back to reality. Then a thunderous applause fell to his share.

People began to stand up, stretching their stiffened limbs, chattering and laughing behind their masks. Slowly a string of people passed along the old storyteller, rewarding his story with money.

Zuko and Katara patiently waited for their turn, carrying a very tired, red devil between them.

Upon reaching the storyteller, Zuko stretched out his hand to give the old man some money when he was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and yanked down with surprising strength.

With a little yelp, Katara followed him. Lee groggily opened his eyes, as the old man looked sharply from one mask to another, catching the blue and golden gazes behind them.

Zuko's face hardened in anger as he tried to prise his wrist from the old man's grasp without causing him pain, only to meet with a tighter grip. Just when a dangerous glint appeared in Zuko's narrowed eyes he was silenced by the storyteller's words.

"The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets," the old man whispered, his green eyes flashing from one traveler to the other.

Katara suddenly noticed that his fantastic clothing was embroidered with countless lotuses, something that she hadn't noticed at a far distance.

The storyteller narrowed his eyes as he looked at them piercingly and he lowered his voice. "Rumor has it in our Order that the Grandmaster has sent two of his own apprentices to prevent the fall of the Order."

He studied the surprised looks Zuko and Katara exchanged at his words, then suddenly bowed his head in respect. "We thank you, students of Grandmaster Iroh."

Finally, he let go of their wrists and ignoring the line forming behind them, he said, "If I'm not mistaken you are heading for Kyoshi Island. Continue on this path and you will reach the harbor soon."

Katara couldn't contain herself. "Please sir, if you know anything about Princess Ursa please tell us."

But the man put up his hands in a defensive gesture and smiled good-naturedly. "I don't know anything about the whereabouts of princesses, Your Highness, but for the stories I tell." And with that they were sent away.

Zuko gave the man his money and hauled Lee on his back as behind them the gigantic bonfire was being lit. The flickering flames cast an impressive glow on the town square and the people present. The festival was coming to an end and silently they went to search for Gansu and Sela.

* * *

**A/N:** _First of all, I want to thank all of you very much for the reviews, I'm so excited when one arrives in my inbox. They encourage me to continue this story to the best of my abilities. Of course, I also want to thank my beta Lieta for her valuable comments._

_Concerning the music mentioned in every chapter, this is the music I listen to when writing the chapters, so the music very much influences the atmosphere of the story._

_To fit the Halloween prompt into the story, I've gone back to the origins of the festival called Samhain, a Celtic harvest festival, that was studded with lanterns and pumpkins and scary masks like the Halloween festival it has become nowadays. And sorry, no Blue Spirit or Painted Lady. They won't reveal their identity just for a festival._

_But that's not all there is to this chapter: in this story I also included a reference to a Chinese festival that takes place around about the same time as Halloween, called The Nine Emperor Gods Festival. This festival celebrates the return from heaven to earth of the Nine Emperor spirits, worshiped as one deity, the goddess of the sea and queen of heaven who represents health, wealth and prosperity. The arrival is believed to be through waterways and the devotees are all dressed in white._ _The tale of the mysterious Spirit Princess and her nine vassals is based on this festival._

_Until next time!_


	10. Return

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 10: Return**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Earth Girl

* * *

"Where's Katara!"

Toph winced slightly as Aang's roar shattered through the peaceful silence in the Omashu palace gardens. His footsteps, light for a nearly grown man, approached swiftly.

"And where's Zuko?" he added menacingly, his gaze trailing from the petite girl next to the tea table, to the dent in the cushion across from her. His face darkened as he understood who had just been sitting there, but had left the terrace before his arrival.

Toph slightly cocked her head as a frown appeared on her delicate features. It annoyed her that Twinkle Toes could still surprise her with his light footsteps. But, she quickly covered up her initial shock and turned around, her unseeing eyes gazing at his knees.

"And why exactly are you asking me?" she asked bitingly. "Besides, in case you don't already know, glaring me down won't work, since I'm blind."

"Toph..." a warning tone laced his somewhat rough voice, as he squatted down.

The earthbender bowed her head but wouldn't give in yet. "Why don't you ask Uncle Iroh?" It had been a long time since she had become entitled to call her mentor uncle.

"I would have, but he's nowhere to be found," Aang said sarcastically with barely concealed anger, causing Toph to sigh. She knew that Iroh had vanished for a reason. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Suger Queen and Sparky left Omashu last night to go on a search for Zuko's mother," she said plainly, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Aang's eyes widened in shock as horrifying images of the play they'd all seen on Ember Island pushed to the forefront of his mind. "I'm going after them!"

"No!"

Suddenly, a series of razor sharp, stone pillars rose up from out of nowhere, imprisoning the enraged teenager opposite the petite earthbender. She was taking a risk, and she knew it. Even without going into the Avatar State, he could destroy the whole palace if he wanted. But she had to stop him.

Fortunately, the unexpectedness of her actions seemed to have surprised him and he was momentarily distracted from his anger. Seizing the opportunity, Toph scrambled to her feet and went to stand before her imprisoned earthbending pupil. In the past three years she had grown a lot and had started to show signs of becoming a beautiful young lady. However, her rocky attitude hadn't changed a bit.

"Now listen closely!" She said with cheeks flushed in anger as she looked up to where she suspected his face to be, following the sound of his agitated breathing. "They have gone to find Zuko's mother, because Uncle asked them to. Because the Order of the White Lotus is in danger. And they are the only ones who can save it."

For a moment, Aang stared at the girl holding him imprisoned, eyes ablaze, although he did not make an effort to free himself. Instead, he spat, "Since when is the Order of the White Lotus in danger? What has the Order to do with Zuko's mother? And why them? If someone can help the Order, it's me! I'm the Avatar!"

These last words he practically shouted and a few birds flew up, chattering in protest at the disturbance of their peace. But Toph merely shrugged at his anger before she averted her unseeing eyes. She seemed weary all of a sudden.

"And where exactly have you been in the past three years?" she asked quietly and Aang was silenced immediately. He subconsciously flinched at the clear disappointment in her voice. He opened his mouth to retort and then closed it again, at a loss for words.

When she sensed that he had started to calm down, Toph took this as a sign to start crumbling the stone pillars enclosing him. Then she sat down again and took a sip of her now lukewarm tea.

For a moment, Aang remained motionless, staring at the picture she made as she brought the cup to her lips, and drank. Guilt washed over him as he watched her enjoy her tea like the old General who had passed on his passion to his young protégée. He was touched by the melancholy expression on her pale features, intensified by the rising sun reflecting off of her clouded eyes.

Toph didn't see Aang's features softening ever so slightly and so was surprised when Aang followed her lead and sat down on the cushion across from the low tea table. Lightly, she shook her head, her black bangs falling elegantly in her face as she did so.

"In the past three years, while you were traveling to let the world meet the Avatar, we all took our responsibilities to rebuild that world. And we made our sacrifices."

She closed her eyes for a moment and let the fresh morning breeze, carrying the sweet fragrance of autumn flowers, caress her saddening face.

Glancing sideways at the dejected earthbender, Aang forgot about his own misery as he wondered if she was thinking of her long-term crush on Sokka or of her parents, whom she had left without notice more than three years ago, never to return. No one understood better than him how guilty she still felt for that. The events of a hundred and three years ago still lay fresh in his memory.

But, Toph didn't elaborate as she remained motionless, her bangs billowing softly in the wind.

Then she said evenly, "You know, it's been hard for Zuko to find the Fire Nation a new place in the world after a hundred years of war. He could have used some help." Her dreamy tone of voice softened her reproachful words.

Aang averted his gaze, a hurt look passing over his features.

"This is all Iroh's doing, isn't it?" he asked bitterly. "Why are you helping him?"

"Because I think he's right," Toph answered quietly, then she sighed. "Please Aang, don't go after them. Come with us to Ba Sing Se."

Aang studied her as she sat there, lovely in the pale green kimono, but radiating an adamant strength. He knew that if Katara were to ask him to do something against his wishes, he could easily evade it. But the girl next to him wasn't Katara. She was Toph, and Toph couldn't be evaded.

"I'd rather stay in Omashu and wait for their return," he answered stiffly.

Toph bowed her head. "They may very well not come back to Omashu at all," she said darkly, causing the airbender next to her to draw in a sharp breath as he fixed a burning gaze on her.

"There's more to this than just the search for Zuko's mother to save the Order of the White Lotus, isn't it? And somehow you're Iroh's accomplice."

Toph's face darkened at his accusatory tone.

"The fate of the world is entwined with Zuko and Katara's success in finding Princess Ursa," she replied rather sharply. "I won't say I'm sorry, 'cause I am not. It was Katara's own choice to go. She could have said no, if she wanted to. To suggest that she has been forced not only is an insult to Uncle Iroh and me, but to Katara's own free will as well. It's only your loss if you can't see that."

Aang said nothing, but only clenched his fists in helpless anger. Then all fury suddenly seemed to leave him and he closed his eyes in defeated, his dark eyelashes casting shadows on his cheek.

"I had wanted to ask her to marry me," he whispered hoarsely. Toph paled at his unexpected confession, her unfocused eyes widening in shock.

"And you think she would have said yes?" she eventually inquired, leaving be the question about his youthful age.

Aang dejectedly glanced at the floor. "I'm not sure," he replied after a moment. "I can't help but think that Katara suspected something and took this search as a chance to avoid it... I... I think she has been unhappy for quite a while... With our travels and all."

His shoulders slumped and Toph smiled bitterly, suddenly feeling for the downcast boy. With a little help from Iroh, Sugar Queen had beaten Aang to his own game. Hesitantly, she put her hand on his arm. Aang frowned and looked away, then sighed.

"All right, I will come with you to Ba Sing Se," he reluctantly agreed, not seeing a hint of a smile ghosting over Toph's features as he gave in.

"Sweet. I could use some help with the walls."

* * *

In the shadows of the stately corridor Iroh folded his arms into the long sleeves of his robes and smiled serenely.

"Well done, Toph," he whispered.

* * *

"We've missed you, Iroh," a customer said gratefully as Iroh poured in some more tea. "You've never been gone for such a long time."

The Ba Sing Se teashop was once again filled with costumers and Iroh beamed.

"I've been on urgent business in Omashu," he smiled enigmatically, and then enthusiasm replaced the sharp glance in his eyes. "But when in Omashu I had the chance to buy a very special tea from this famous Omashu tea merchant. It's called Monkey King and I would definitely recommend it."

* * *

Over the past three years, the inhabitants of Ba Sing Se had become accustomed to a constant rumbling throughout the city. A special brigade of Ba Sing Se's earthbenders, commanded by Toph, effortlessly breached the inner walls, which for centuries had divided the inhabitants on grounds of social status and wealth. Quite of few of them were former Dai Li agents.

It was already late in the afternoon on a cold, somber day when the inhabitants of a trades neighborhood in the east of Ba Sing Se were started out of their work by a rumbling sound. A bleak wind blew the last of the dry leaves through the streets as they left their work to take a look. It appeared that Lady Bei Fong's earthbenders had arrived to breach the wall between them and the neighboring district.

A murmur went through the quickly growing crowd, when a squeaking sound drew their attention. To their surprise, a small, white, long tailed animal with excessively large ears jumped onto the wall. It sat down and looked around with a permanent amazed look in his jade green eyes, seemingly oblivious to their presence.

Then an agitated girl's voice sounded from behind the wall. "Aang, I told you not to bring Momo with you!"

Someone mumbled something unintelligible in reply, which was followed by a sharp command by the girl. "Men, wait a moment for Aang to catch Momo."

In the crowd, eyebrows were raised in surprise when a tall boy, clad in yellows and oranges, lightly jumped onto the wall as well. A big grin appeared on his lips before he used a simple airbending move to suck a panicked Momo into his arms. Then, as he turned around, he noticed his astonished audience. His grin widened even further and he waved cheerfully before he disappeared again.

Almost immediately thereafter, the wall crumbled into a thousand pieces, neatly piling up on the ground as the boy and girl left their stances with satisfied smirks on their faces. The sturdy earthbenders surrounding them eyed the result with deadpan expressions.

Another wall of Ba Sing Se had been leveled with the ground.

* * *

As one day followed another and the weather in Ba Sing Se slowly grew bleaker, Iroh was satisfied to notice that Toph's little speech in Omashu had made an impression on the young Avatar. Though playful as ever, he worked hard and even developed a quicker way to breach the walls, much to the brigade's approval and Toph's chagrin. But, Iroh knew that she was secretly proud of her earthbending student.

During the quiet, peaceful evenings that the three of them spent together in the antique shop he called his living room, Iroh studied the youngsters keeping him company. Over a cup of first class tea they engaged in long conversations about the state of the world and their views on the future. And when everything had been said, the old general taught them the noble play of Pai Sho.

As time passed by, Iroh's sharp eye caught a friendship that went deep, very deep. Much deeper in fact, than the bond between his nephew and Katara, which had barely gotten the chance to grow, due to the time Zuko had spent as the Avatar's enemy.

He noticed that the young Avatar showed a touching care for Toph, which he didn't display for anyone else, not even Katara, whom he treated most of the time with a possessive admiration. The otherwise so sturdy Toph, surprisingly, let him. And although she was often harsh with the teenager, her upbeat character somehow managed to ease some of Aang's pain about Katara's sudden departure.

* * *

One evening, when Iroh was explaining the subtleties of creating right and wrong harmonies in Pai Sho, Aang's gaze passed over Toph, sitting motionless across from him. As always when Iroh let them into one of the many secrets of the game, her expression was intense as she listened closely. Her hands were folded in her lap as Iroh moved both a Rose tile and a Jasmine tile to show Aang one particular move. She was so eager to learn the game but she was only able to imagine the move in her mind. A sad smile tugged at Aang's lips as his softening gaze stayed to rest on Toph's blind, delicate features. Then his jaw set in determination.

He rose from his seat and bowed respectfully to Iroh, then excused himself, not to join them for a series of evenings.

On the fourth evening after his disappearance he finally returned, carrying a present for Toph with him. Toph widened her eyes when he appeared before her. Over the past few days she had become quite irritated by his evasiveness, but now a smile tugged at her lips as she took the present from him. Carefully, she let her sensitive fingertips run over the surface, her mouth forming a silent 'oh' when she realized what the filmy, wooden ridges lining the boxes meant. It was a Pai Sho board, adjusted to her condition. A set of beautifully carved tiles accompanied the board.

Toph flushed a crimson red as she let her fingers run over the result of Aang's patient work.

"Still not used to getting presents, are you?" Aang joked good-naturedly, in an attempt to put her at ease.

She mumbled something unintelligible and punched him lightly in the arm to thank him, then took a Rock tile from the box to examine it.

A proud smile graced Aang's lips as he rubbed his arm, glad that she appreciated his gift. The expression on her face when he'd entered the living room had made his heart sink into his boots.

In the mean time, Iroh had picked up the Pai Sho board, eyes sparkling in approval as he studied the intricate structure of the board and admired the artistry of the carvings on the tiles.

"This is indeed beautifully done, young Avatar," he commented on the work. "I see you've developed quite a skill with carving."

A silence suddenly descended upon them at his casual remark as Toph squeezed her Rock tile and Aang lowered his gaze. In the past few days, they had quietly settled into this safe routine of breaching the walls of Ba Sing Se and spending evenings with General Iroh. Evenings they had cherished in the safe knowledge that some subjects would not be touched upon.

But Iroh's subtle hint toward Aang's ties to Katara, had made him realize that Toph's company had prevented him from worrying over Katara too much. He bowed his head as he acknowledged the reluctance he suddenly felt when thinking about the moment that he would leave Ba Sing Se… no, leave her behind to join Katara once more. The feeling surprised him, but couldn't be denied.

Toph, for her part, was overcome by a feeling sadness when the elderly man intentionally or unintentionally reminded her of the fact that this time with Aang in Ba Sing Se was merely stolen time, granted to her for as long as... She couldn't bear the thought. Angrily, she shook her head.

From his seat by the window, Iroh had been watching their awkward reactions with amusement. His clever gaze betrayed that he knew all too well what agitation his casual remark had produced with the young people across from him.

But he pretended not to have noticed the sudden change in atmosphere as he lowered Toph's Pai Sho board and said cheerily, "Well... Because of this beautiful board I can finally start teaching Pai Sho to my dear pupil for real this time. But not tonight. No, tonight I will tell you more about the Order of the White Lotus."

Two heads suddenly jerked up in surprise and Iroh smiled. He'd achieved his goal, knowing that this would attract their attention. Until that moment, he had evaded all of their questions concerning the Order of the White Lotus.

"Does that mean that you're finally going to tell why you've sent Zuko and Katara away?" Aang asked, a hint of annoyance lacing his voice, though Toph noticed that he didn't put so much of an emphasis on Katara's name.

Iroh bowed his head.

"If I remember correctly, Lady Bei Fong has already told you the reason why I asked my nephew and Princess Katara to go on this search," he replied a bit sternly and Aang looked away. Iroh's answer irritated him, but also made him feel a bit ashamed.

"And," Iroh continued serenely, "that's why I'd like to tell you something about the recent history of the Order, her ties to the Avatar and how I became Grandmaster."

Both teenagers shot up straight and Iroh let his wise gaze rest on Aang's astonished features. Suddenly, the Grandmaster had his full and undivided attention.

Iroh took a sip from his cup and closed his eyes. "Though its members can appreciate a good cup of tea," he began on a sing-song tone of voice, "the Order of the White Lotus isn't some old men's tea group of mine, I started in my spare time."

Aang and Toph both flushed under Iroh's dry gaze, embarrassed by his sharp insight in their not so very flattering image of his Order.

"I already learned to see," Toph hastened to defend herself and she received a warm smile from her mentor.

Aang looked at her attentively. Once again, he wondered how much Toph knew about the Order and above all – Iroh's latest machinations concerning Katara.

Iroh nodded indulgently. "Yes, you've already learned a few things, but still I want to put things into perspective, especially to the Avatar. Like I said, I didn't start the Order of the White Lotus. In fact, the Order is old, very old. Its history goes back to the days when the first benders appeared and the Avatar Cycle came into existence. And as long as the Order of the White Lotus exists, it has maintained a strong connection to the Avatar."

The old man stared to a point behind them. "To the law of the divided four elements the Avatar is the exception. The Avatar breaks this rule by bringing all four elements together in one person while binding the peoples of the four elements with all they have in common. The Order of the White Lotus represents the same ideal - the unity of the four elements instead of their separation. One of the main reasons for her existence therefore can be found within the task to oversee the upbringing of children who were recognized as the next Avatar, to make sure they are raised with this principle. When a child is being recognized, the Order of the White Lotus assigns a guardian who watches over the child's education. The intensity of the guardian's involvement depends on the family structure. Sometimes the guardian only fulfills the role of confident, sometimes he or she becomes a substitute for absent parents..."

Aang sighed deeply and closed his eyes as he thought of his own guardian, Monk Gyatso, whom he still missed. He had already discovered that his mentor had been a member of the Order of the White Lotus, but it was a shock to him that Gyatso's participation in his upbringing had not only been the will of the Air Nomad elders, but an assignment from the Order of the White Lotus as well.

A soft nudge to his shoulder made him look up as Toph smiled reassuringly to him. Gratefully, he took her hand and lightly squeezed it.

Iroh watched attentively as Toph's surprisingly subtle, comforting gesture pulled the Avatar from his sadness. He was extremely impressed.

"The guardian assigned to watch over the Avatar," he continued quietly, "always has been a member of the Black Lotus Council, the highest council within the Order of the White Lotus. The guardian has devoted his or her life to the Order's path and philosophy because of his or her bond with the Avatar during his previous life. The guardian becomes a member, knowing that his or her ultimate task will be to guide the child in possession of the Avatar spirit into adulthood. For Aang his guardian was Monk Gyatso who had been Avatar Roku's best friend among the Air Nomads in life."

Iroh paused for a moment, then added, "Additionally, the person who has taken on the task of being the Avatar's guardian, becomes Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus as well."

Aang sucked in his breath. "Gyatso was the Grandmaster at the time?" He was perplexed.

Iroh nodded. "The wooden necklace you wore on my nephew's coronation, has been the sign of the airbending Grandmaster of the Order for centuries, only worn when the Avatar Cycle returned to the Air Nomads again. Of course that mustn't keep you from wearing it," he added reassuringly the moment Aang's cheeks flushed in shame. "The necklace has lost that specific meaning with the disappearance of the Air Nomads. Instead, it has gained a new one – it has become your memory of your guardian, like Princess Katara's necklace isn't a betrothal necklace either, but a loving memory of her mother."

As his voice trailed away, Iroh noticed that Toph was watching him with an unspoken question in her empty gaze. He sighed. After all these years, he still dreaded remembering the events that accumulated in the next part of his story, which would answer his pupil's question.

"Once Avatar Roku had passed away, the Avatar was reborn into the Air Nomads and Monk Gyatso, airbending representative in the Black Lotus Council at that time, became Grandmaster as soon as Aang had been recognized. In line with Air Nomad tradition, the young boy was raised in the all male Southern Air Temple, where Monk Gyatso became his guardian. For twelve years the child Avatar lived in the sheltered atmosphere of the temple, ignorant of the rapidly worsening situation in the world.

"Then a black day arrived. Fire Lord Sozin, who had done nothing to prevent Avatar Roku's death, went on a frantic search for the next Avatar. In an attempt to kill the child who had been born into the nation of the Air Nomads he wiped out all of the Air Temples when the Great Comet passed the world after a hundred years' absence. He could never have expected, though, that the Avatar had just run off on his guardian and would not be seen for a hundred years. In one day, the Order of the White Lotus lost both the Avatar and its Grandmaster."

Aang's eyes widened in shock. The even tone in which Iroh told his story couldn't conceal the despondency behind his words and for the first time in his life he began to see the magnitude of despair the events of a hundred years ago had caused the Order of the White Lotus.

"The remaining members of the Black Lotus Council assembled in total devastation, knowing the nation of the Air Nomads to be completely obliterated and their Grandmaster dead. However, they already knew that despite his efforts, Fire Lord Sozin had not succeeded in putting his hands on the young Avatar and that the boy miraculously had escaped the massacre of his people. The Council then decided to undertake a search for the Avatar, which would continue for decades."

Iroh quietly took another sip of his tea, as Aang and Toph remained motionless, entranced by his story. "In the many years that followed, Fire Lord Sozin died and he was succeeded by his son, Fire Lord Azulon. Once again, many decades passed and under Azulon's reign the expansion of the Fire Nation continued while both the new Fire Lord and the Order of the White Lotus fruitlessly kept searching for the child Avatar.

"Then, one day, the Black Lotus Council received report of a palace coup that had taken place in the Fire Nation. Fire Lord Azulon had died under suspicious circumstances, although he was known to be in good health. His death had resulted in the mysterious banishment of Princess Ursa, wife to Azulon's second son, Prince Ozai. And, instead of the Fire Lord's eldest son, his much younger, second son ascended to the throne, only days after the Crown Prince had lost his only son in the siege of Ba Sing Se."

Both Aang and Toph lowered their gazes as the old man fell silent. The pain that suddenly passed over his features made him look ten years older. It reminded them of the fact that their old, tea loving friend originally was destined to be the next Fire Lord, in the safe possession of an heir of his own, the son whom he had loved dearly. Giving Iroh some space, they patiently waited until he was ready to continue his story.

After a moment, in which the old man seemed to screw up his courage, he smiled sadly and said, "The Council immediately acknowledged the danger of the situation. Contrarily to his older brother, Prince Ozai was known for his ruthlessness and lust for power. This considerably increased the danger of worsening the already fragile state of the world, while silently, the members of the Order had hoped for peace, once Fire Lord Azulon would have passed away."

Once Iroh would have ascended to the throne, Aang and Toph silently filled in Iroh's modest words.

"During that time I had just entered the Black Lotus Council, as firebending representative; one of the last firebenders who still respected the old ways. The other members were King Bumi for the Earth Kingdom, whom like Gyatso had personally known Avatar Aang, and Master Pakku for the Water Tribes. The Council decided that the urgency of the situation required immediate interference. Any hesitation would most probably lead to the doom of us all.

"It was then that, against thousands of years of history in which the goal of the Order of the White Lotus had always been to support the Avatar, the Council decided, with pain in their hearts, to stop the search for the child Avatar, who hadn't been seen in a hundred years. Instead, the Council's attention shifted toward the alarming developments in the Fire Nation. The focus became the new heir apparent to the throne."

"Zuko," Toph and Aang both whispered in shock.

Iroh nodded. "With my only son having passed away and myself excluded from succession, Zuko, who had been fourth in line behind myself, his cousin and his father, had become the new Crown Prince of the Fire Nation.

"He was ten years old at the time and all he had ever known had been his mother's love for him. This love, along with my protection and his brotherly bond to my son, had shielded him from his father's contempt and his sister's cruelty. And although he was a rather impatient child, Zuko was also exceptionally kind and peaceful.

"As the situation in the Fire Nation rapidly worsened, he became the Order's only hope for peace. Therefore, Zuko came into the center of the Order's attention."

Aang and Toph listened to him with wide eyes as they tried to picture their friend, angry and hurt as he had been at the time, who had unwittingly taken Aang's place as the Order's only hope for rehabilitation of the balance in the world. They both started to see him in a new light.

Iroh's soft voice pulled them from their thoughts. "The situation the child had ended up in after his mother's banishment worried the Black Lotus Council as he suddenly was being left at the mercy of two of the most dangerous people on earth. So it was that the Council came to the radical decision to place a guardian with the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. This guardian was assigned the difficult task to teach him the ways of the Order of the White Lotus and keep him safe from harm. And the guardian became the Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus. Me." Iroh smiled at the stunned faces in front of him.

Darkness had fallen over Ba Sing Se while Iroh told his story and his servant had quietly lit various lamps in the small living room. Aang stared, open-mouthed, at the elderly man sitting across from him, as even Toph's features expressed her astonishment. Never before had they wondered how the old Fire Nation general, grandson of Fire Lord Sozin himself, had become the Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus. But suddenly all became clear to them. General Iroh, who had been the exception to an endless line of guardians to the Avatar, had taken upon him the impossible task of bringing peace to the world by becoming guardian of his nephew and… he had succeeded.

Eventually Toph asked, "So, the Order of the White Lotus tried to raise Zuko like they had done with all the Avatars?"

Iroh nodded and elaborated, "We hoped to create another way of ending the war. Nonetheless, the Order, only having had experience with good willing and proud parents who only want the best for their children, still underestimated Ozai's cruelty and influence on his son. The harm he managed to inflict on his son despite my – our protection ultimately resulted in Zuko's obsessive search for the Avatar, which controlled our lives for three long years. You know the rest."

* * *

When Aang and Toph retired for the night, the airbender automatically took the blind girl by the elbow to gently lead her through the muddle of objects, even though she had lived in Iroh's stuffed house for much longer than Aang. She didn't protest, though.

But when Toph already ascended on the stairs, Aang suddenly hesitated and turned around. He looked at Iroh's slightly bowed silhouette and asked, "Do Zuko and Katara know about this?"

For a moment he thought Iroh hadn't heard him, then the reply softly came. "No."

* * *

**A/N:** _Since there was no prompt this week, I was able to write the Taang intermezzo I have been wanting to write, ever since I started with the story._

_Things to note about this chapter: The tea Iroh refers to, Monkey King, really does exist. It's a quite expensive but very tasty green tea. Of course, the reference can also be pointing toward the statue in Iroh's living room..._

_Furthermore, I've created the Black Lotus Council to be the highest council within the Order of the White Lotus. Consisting of four people, the members are all representatives of each bending ability. Since the Order itself is called the Order of the White Lotus I've named its high council the Black Lotus Council, like Yin and Yang. This chapter sheds a little light on how Iroh, representative for the Fire Nation, became Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus. _

_As always, I would like to thank my beta Lieta for her great precision and knowledge of the Avatarverse._

_Next chapter will return our focus to Zuko and Katara who will have left The Plains Village to head for Kyoshi Island._

_**Thank you all very much for the reviews, I'm always so glad when there's one in my mailbox! Until next time!**_


	11. Skill

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 11: Skill**

Music: The Track Team, Uncle's Tsungi Horn (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

* * *

Standing at the quay of the Earth Kingdom harbor town, Katara sniffed up the salty sea breeze as she took in the view over the harbor. They'd just arrived after a quiet trek through the last mountain range between the Plains Village and the harbor.

In the afternoon sun, dozens of docked ships, of both Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom origin, gently bobbed up and down on the water. The slender Water Tribe ships clearly distinguished themselves from the sturdier Earth Kingdom ones. Only one Fire Nation vessel, a relatively small, steel-clad trade ship, had been tied up in the Earth Kingdom harbor, conspicuous among the smaller, wooden ships.

The southern harbor appeared to be a thriving town of average size and the weary travelers were welcomed by a pleasantly busy atmosphere upon their arrival. The seaport town was located in a bay between the village of Chin and the old city of Gaoling, where Toph's parents resided and was surrounded by lush forests in glowing autumn colors. In the distance the blue silhouette of the mountain range could still be seen.

Fascinated by the sight, Katara watched as people on deck did their chores, readying their ships to set sail for an unknown destiny.

Her gaze kept returning to the Water Tribe ships with their dark blue sails. There was a chance that she would know one of these people since this port was the southernmost harbor of the Earth Kingdom and the easiest to reach for ships from the South Pole.

"You probably don't know them." Katara slightly turned her head to the husky voice of her companion who suddenly popped up next to her, following her gaze as she presented him with the reins of his own ostrich-horse.

"How would you know?" she asked, not averting her eyes from the Water Tribe ships, a longing expression on her features.

Zuko's gaze showed a little sympathy as he shrugged. "Took a peek into the books when the harbor master wasn't looking."

Surprised, Katara looked up to see the amused smile playing around his lips.

"Hey, this is the Blue Spirit you're talking to," he remarked dryly and Katara's eyes softened slightly, grateful for his insight.

"Well then… You have my gratitude, oh mighty spirit, but did you also find out which ship heads for Kyoshi within a day?"

Zuko nodded and pointed out one of the docked ships. "That one." It was the Fire Nation vessel.

"Now, that's what you call coincidence," Katara mumbled as she studied the steel ship which, in contrast to the other ships, seemed completely deserted. Then her lips curled in a wry smile. "At least I don't expect they will decline their Fire Lord passage."

* * *

Katara had been right. The captain and his crew members kowtowed to the ground when Zuko made his presence known and when they left after having made arrangements for their passage to Kyoshi, the crew still watched them with wide eyes, dumbstruck expressions on their faces.

"I hope they will survive the passage to Kyoshi," Katara worriedly commented as she cast a glance over her shoulder. Hesitantly, she waved at the staring Fire Nation crew. Nobody responded.

Zuko was used to it and didn't notice when reactions failed to appear as he let his eyes wander over the alleys leading to the harbor. The people in the streets, accustomed to strangers in their city, didn't pay attention to them. He was glad for it, after having to reveal his identity to the crew of the Fire Nation vessel.

"The ship is leaving tomorrow morning, so we need a place for the night. How about taking a room in an inn with actual beds?" he asked.

They hadn't slept in real beds since they had left Omashu. Two caves had followed their night in the hay-barn of Lee's family. The farewell had been very touching and Zuko had to promise to come back.

But right now, the sole thing they craved was a good night's sleep. Their eyes met and simultaneously they nodded in agreement.

"And a bath," Katara added eagerly.

* * *

In a quiet alley bordered by white houses a few blocks from the harbor, they came across an inconspicuous gate giving entrance to a small, hospitable gentlemen's lodging. A late-blooming clematis decorated the entrance with its little, yellow flowers, welcoming the guests inside. The place was comfortable without being overly luxurious.

"And who can I register for the room to?" asked the innkeeper, a friendly man in his mid-forties, his gaze discreetly traveling over their dark, nondescript clothing.

"My name is Lee," Zuko said, automatically falling back on his Earth Kingdom alias as he turned around. "And..." he hesitated.

"Sapphire," Katara cut in, wearing her biggest smile. "Fire. Lee and Sapphire Fire."

Zuko's eyes widened, but he immediately recovered himself and nodded in confirmation. If the innkeeper was surprised about their strange names, he didn't show it as he closed the thick scroll and motioned them to follow him.

The innkeeper showed Katara and Zuko to their room, after he'd instructed his son to take the weary ostrich-horses to the stables. A happy smile appeared on both their faces when they entered a clean, light chamber, containing one bed large enough to fit a family of five. It was covered with spotless, fine linens.

Katara had to resist the urge to leap onto the downy covers and fall asleep right that instant. Instead, she looked out the window and admired the view over the blue sea, glistening behind the brown and green curled roofs.

The innkeeper respectfully retreated after making sure that everything was in order and Zuko came to stand next to Katara. He took a peek at her before clearing his throat.

"Sapphire Fire?" He couldn't hide his disbelief verging on horror.

Katara grinned. "I'm sorry, that's the best I could think of. It's an alias I used when pretending to be Aang's mom in the Fire Nation."

To Zuko's opinion the addition didn't improve on the credibility. He raised his eyebrow in apparent disbelief.

"You pretended to be Aang's mom..." he repeated slowly, "under the name of Sapphire Fire." _Sapphire Fire. Blue fire. The trademark color of her people combined with his element. Also, one of the types of fire that was hardest to create. Like lightning._

The image of his sister's sleeping face shot through his mind and for a moment, he was distracted until Katara's face beaming got through to him.

"Aang's pregnant mom, actually," she specified, a smug grin passing over her features as Zuko's mouth dropped. He looked positively horrified.

"I don't think I want to know," he groaned. He shuddered at the thought of his girlfriend posing as his mother, pregnant already.

But Katara chuckled lightly when she said, "They completely fell for it. Apparently, the Fire Nation did not think much of people from the colonies."

"Figures," Zuko snorted and shook his head. "Well, this brilliant interference of yours not only has left the innkeeper under the impression we are both Fire Nation but married too, so we're now sharing a room, Mrs. Fire."

He tasted the name on his lips. Not exactly the name he would have chosen for himself, he thought wryly.

But Katara merely shrugged and turned around. She was secretly glad that Zuko didn't know that this was the already second time she had left people under the impression they were married. Surely, she had to stop doing that.

"I don't see the difference after the past few days."

* * *

When they sat to dinner in the busy dining room, feeling blissfully clean after the warm baths they'd taken, Katara continued their conversation on aliases as she took one of the dim sum.

"What about your alias, then? Lee?" Katara asked, her blue eyes searching his face from underneath her eyelashes as she slowly started to eat.

Zuko saw her gaze and shook his head. "It's not what you think. I was already using that name before I met with Lee," he explained. "That was... despite the fact that my uncle tried to saddle me with Junior."

His features darkened in disgust at the memory as Katara grinned amusedly.

He reached for the noodles. "He did it to get back at me, actually," he added casually, "for fixing him with the name Mushi."

Katara gasped in dismay. "You didn't! That is so rude."

But Zuko's lips only curled in a somewhat sheepish grin and he shrugged. "What can I say? I was an angry young boy at the time. But…" he changed the subject, "if you were posing as Aang's mom… who posed as his father then?"

He already suspected it had been the mastermind behind this genius plan, but he wanted to hear her say it.

"A bearded Sokka," Katara confirmed his misgivings, smiling deviously. She took on a hunched position and changed her voice. "Wang Fire," she said, pulling on an imaginary beard.

And as Zuko choked in his rice, he realized that she still was the demented man's sister.

* * *

If Katara had thought that sleeping in the same room or bed with Zuko would make no difference to the days before, she had been wrong. When sleeping in hay-barns and moist caves, they just settled for unrolling their sleeping bags as they fell asleep almost immediately. The distance between them depended on the temperature in their accommodation.

However, realization slowly dawned to her when after an awkward silence, Zuko lowered his gaze and suggested that Katara would go upstairs first and then he would follow.

Katara quickly undressed to her underwear and almost leapt with joy when she found a spare nightgown in the dresser. Nightgowns were luxury items that General Iroh had not bothered putting into their traveling bags. Quickly, she slipped under the covers and sighed in contentment, before she pulled the soft duvet tightly around her.

Only a moment later, Zuko entered the room, as if he had been listening outside. Ducking under the covers, Katara gave him his privacy, not reappearing until she felt the blankets being lifted on the other side of the bed. The candles sniffed out with a sharp snap of Zuko's fingers.

They were covered in darkness as they both lay completely still, not even daring to breathe.

As Katara let her eyes adjust to the darkness, she became aware of the warmth that radiated from the body on the other side of the bed, slowly reaching her. Her muscles relaxed to the sensation, but the intimacy of sharing a bed with Zuko undid the effect.

To distract herself, she turned to her side and watched the vague outline of his profile in the faint moonlight coming through the rice paper window. "When we arrive at Kyoshi tomorrow, it's the last clue we got from your uncle."

A sigh reached her ears. Zuko turned around to face her and she caught his gaze in solemn, almond eyes gazing back at her.

"I know," he said quietly. It bothered him too. "I only hope that there's actually something at Kyoshi Island and that we're not being led astray."

Katara frowned to herself. "I don't think your uncle would do that, especially since the future of his Order is in danger." For a moment, she was silent, then added on a softer tone, "We will find your mother, Zuko. I know it."

For a moment, he silently stared into her glistening eyes. _So close yet so far away._

From the moment Uncle had summoned them to Omashu, the emphasis had constantly been on his mother's importance to the future of the Order of the White Lotus. Until Katara acknowledged her importance to him personally, with only a few quiet words. He closed his eyes, grateful for her understanding.

"Thanks, Katara," he whispered.

"You're welcome," she responded quietly, her gaze not averting from his relaxing features. She resisted the urge to reach for him, afraid she wouldn't be able to let go of that warm body once she'd touched it. And with a small sigh she wearily followed Zuko's example.

* * *

The next morning, Zuko woke up not knowing where he was. His groggy mind only registered that he appeared to have spent the night in a real bed, which momentarily led him to believe he was back in the Royal Palace. The softness of the futon was a very welcome change to pointy rocks and stinging hay and he allowed himself to relax in the soft pillow, the warm covers and Katara's subtle scent of water lilies... His eyes shot open.

Turning his head, he came across Katara's peaceful sleeping face, her head resting on his arm with only a few inches between them. Her breath softly caressed his neck as her thick eyelashes sometimes fluttered on her tan cheeks. Her loose, dark brown curls lay sprawled over her shoulder, brushing his arm. It was not until she stirred that he became aware of the arm she had loosely draped over his waist, covered by his own hand.

His breath caught as the smooth batiste of the nightgown caressed his bare skin. Suddenly he was very aware of the coolness of Katara's arm coming through the thin fabric and the fact that he was holding her arm in place. His heartbeat picked up pace.

Not knowing what to do, he lay completely still for a moment and stared at her lovely sleeping face. Her sleeping state made her look younger, as if all of the weariness and worries had disappeared from her pretty features. He had to resist the urge to fold his arms around Katara's slender body and pull her to his chest.

Instead, he slowly raised a hand to remove Katara's long strands tickling his neck, his gaze fixed on the waterbender curled up against him. She didn't react. His gaze traveled from her face to the curl in his hand. It was a warm dark brown color and felt soft to the touch. He let the curl slide through his fingers, enjoying the smooth sensation.

She looked beautiful with the mass of loose curls sprawled around her and Zuko regretted that they would be restrained in a braid soon. Carefully, he laid the curl on her shoulder, holding his breath when Katara softly sighed. To his relief she didn't wake up.

Zuko turned his head slightly to the window and watched the sun coming up, savoring this rare moment in which he felt completely at peace. He had known for a long time that the waterbender now resting in his arms held a special place in his heart, ever since that moment in the Ba Sing Se catacombs, when she had been the first person in the world he'd allowed to touch his scar. She always had this way of making him feel at ease with her, and he liked to think this was mutual when he watched the peaceful expression on her sleeping face. But he feared the quickening of his pulse whenever she looked at him with that warm expression in her blue eyes, or her hand accidentally brushed his. Even now, he wondered how long it would take for her to wake up from his not so steady heartbeat.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Katara moved. An expression of regret passed over his features when he looked down, expecting her eyes to flutter open now. But, to his surprise she lifted her arm from his waist and put her hand on his chest, where the scar of the Agni Kai with Azula stood out fiercely against his pale skin.

"Zuko, I'm sorry..." she mumbled softly. "... Spirit Oasis..."

Zuko's stomach dropped. A few moments passed by as he listened to the blood pounding in his ears, looking at the slender, tan hand on his heart, applying a gentle coolness to the skin underneath. His breath hitched in his throat. Why did she feel sorry for his scar? Was she regretting his actions to save her? An agonizing fear turned his stomach as he considered the possibility.

But as he looked down on Katara's peaceful, sleeping face, he calmed down. He knew that she did not. She only regretted not being able to cure the scar he silently cherished...

He smiled sadly as he carefully covered her hand with his own. And for a moment he wished that they could stay like this forever. Then he untangled himself from her hold, his hand softly brushing the skin of her smaller one as he did so.

_Aang is going to kill me._

His fingers slid through the soft locks resting on the pillow for the last time when he got up.

_And Mai too._

* * *

Katara woke to the sound of rice paper windows being opened. Blinking against the piercing sunlight, she saw Zuko already dressed and waiting for her to get up. She gave him a sleepy smile, but to her surprise he avoided looking at her as he turned to leave the room. Katara raised her eyebrows, but decided to ignore it and get up as well.

* * *

The last time Katara had been on a Fire Nation ship was in the short period of time between the fall of Ba Sing Se and Aang's awakening. The people on the warship had constantly lived in fear, petrified that the Fire Nation would see through their cover.

An echo of that fear drifted to the surface of her memory, taking a hold on Katara, as she followed Zuko and the captain through the narrow corridor, all steel and dimly lit. Pausing in her steps, she let her eyes wander over the unrelenting environment, pulling her cloak more tightly around her as a shiver ran down her spine.

Zuko seemed to miss her presence behind him, because he turned around and cast her searching gaze. Then a melancholy smile shortly passed over his softening features and as he motioned the captain to wait he walked back to Katara. He gave her a small nod as a look of understanding softened his golden eyes. Together, they crossed the corridor, their footsteps a hollow echo in the steel surroundings.

And Katara was relieved to feel the cold grip on her heart subside.

* * *

Standing next to the captain, hands clasped behind his back, Zuko stared out of the window of the wheelhouse. He estimated it would take them till tomorrow at noon to reach Kyoshi Island, measuring the position of the sun without looking on the map. He still had an excellent knowledge of the southernmost waters, having crossed them countless times before finally finding the Avatar's trace at the South Pole. And of course there was that time, he had seen chance to set fire to the Kyoshi Warriors' village…

The captain secretly glanced at the tall young man, standing next to him, who had his gaze fixed on the horizon, a thoughtful expression on his face. He still couldn't believe he was standing beside the Fire Lord himself, barely recognizable with his shaggy hair falling in his face and plain clothing. But despite this misleading appearance, he seemed to carry wisdom beyond his years, having been burdened with the rule over the most powerful of all three nations at such a young age. As he studied the Fire Lord's unreadable expression, the captain wondered what business had brought the Fire Lord to this part of the world, dressed like a commoner, with only the Water Princess to accompany him.

Zuko sensed the captain's contemplations on his person and turned around slightly. Then he purposely interrupted the man's train of thoughts with a calm, "Captain, can you tell me..." factually asking him about the state of Fire Nation business in this area.

Grateful for the understanding his Fire Lord offered, the captain started to inform him on current situations.

* * *

Evening had fallen when Zuko, Katara, the captain and his helmsman sat to dinner in the captain's cabin.

Much to Katara's relief the crew had recovered from the shock of having the Fire Lord on board and the members hesitantly started to respond when she asked them something. Talking to Zuko, however, was still a gap too far to bridge for most of the crew, so he spent his time on board in relative loneliness in comparison to Katara. But he didn't seem to care much, she noticed, content with Katara to speak with and the few words he exchanged with the captain.

When Katara put down her chopsticks Zuko looked up, catching her gaze.

"Your Majesty," she addressed him formally, out of respect for Zuko's station among his subjects and he cast her a slight, almost apologetic smile when the captain and the helmsman were not looking. "This afternoon we received an invitation from the crew for a music night taking place tonight."

Zuko suppressed a groan. "So, music night has traveled beyond my ship," he established evenly, sighing inwardly._ Just what he needed._

The captain nodded in acknowledgement. "Courtesy of Commander Jee, whom I had the honor to meet a few months back, Sire. He inspired us with his stories about the music nights on your ship." After a moment of hesitation he added, "Apparently, Your Majesty has some skill with playing the Tsungi Horn."

Katara's head jerked up and Zuko watched in dread as her blue eyes started to glisten. "That I want to see!"

* * *

Because winter was approaching in fast paces, it was too cold for music night to take place on deck, but the Fire Nation crew settled with the captain's cabin, which he had been so kind to place at their disposal. A few liuqins were brought along, a flute, a drum and a Tsungi Horn.

Zuko allowed the Tsungi Horn to be handed to him and he secretly examined the dented instrument as he sat down next to Katara. He doubted he would even get a proper tone out of it. The times where he would stamp his foot and yell about not playing the Tsungi Horn lay far behind him and if he were honest with himself, he liked the idea of playing for Katara.

It took some encouraging words from their Fire Lord for the crew members to pick up their instruments, but then the evening started with a few upbeat songs, performed by the cook and the fireman, who concluded their two-part contribution with The Girls From Ba Sing Se.

Being the only female in this male environment, Katara noticed the extraordinary enthusiasm with which the men, who had been listening quietly until that moment, fell in. From the corner of her eye she looked at Zuko, who smirked at her but didn't sing along.

With a disdainful sniff, Katara whispered, "The Girls From Ba Sing Se, huh?"

Zuko grinned mysteriously. "Of course. There's always a girl from Ba Sing Se."

Katara's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to ask, but was cut off by Zuko who turned to the men and said almost hastily, "The lady would like to continue with music night, if you please gentlemen."

Next were the captain and the helmsman playing liuqin and flute, with the captain singing a few Fire Nation songs, not all of them known by Katara. She listened quietly and clapped enthusiastically, when their voices died down.

Then it was Katara's turn. Because she hadn't had the opportunity to learn to play an instrument back home, she decided to sing a lullaby her mother used to sing for her when she was little. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When Katara started to sing, it was with a fragile but clear voice which immediately captivated her audience. The pure melody of the song painting the harsh, icy surroundings in which polar children grew up, kept safe by their mother's warm embrace.

As Zuko listened intently, he vaguely contemplated that he had never actually heard Katara sing before, but he loved her voice, cool and tender at the same time. He was enchanted by the way she closed her eyes and let her voice trail away at the end of the slightly mysterious song.

The applause reaching his ears broke the spell and only a moment later, he joined in with the token of appreciation.

Katara smiled a little shyly at the enthusiastic response to her song. She let her gaze wander over the crewmen as she bowed and caught Zuko looking at her appreciatively as he applauded for her. A hint of pink graced her cheeks when she sat down, her eyes quickly averting from his intense gaze.

Zuko sighed. It was his turn now. He slowly picked up the Tsungi Horn and all gazes were immediately glued to him. To have the Fire Lord perform for their music night, was a once in a lifetime experience for the crewmembers.

"My uncle would play this piece of music every time at music night." With that short introduction Zuko brought the Tsungi Horn to his lips and closed his eyes.

A dark, melancholy tone filled the cabin, climbing and diving in different rhythms, played quietly and with feel for the instrument as Katara's eyes widened in surprise. She had never expected him to be this good.

The instrument curled from his shoulders to the horn before his chest and while he kept his head bowed, Zuko drew soft tones from the horn with extraordinary skill. Katara felt the alluring music carry her away, as the exotic, vibrant tones painted a portrait of the Fire Nation; the longing tones of the melancholy music speaking of elusive mystery and faint savageness, underneath a lonely pride. It took her breath away.

Aang hated playing the Tsungi Horn, had little talent for it too, but here Zuko was, playing the instrument with overwhelming feeling. His initial reluctance had melted away to make place for an expression Katara could only describe as perfectly serene. It left a deep impression on her.

And as tears inexplicably came to brim in her eyes, she realized that this song was about Zuko. No, the song was Zuko. His uncle may have composed it, but he had shaped it after his nephew. Unnoticed by the rest of the crew, Zuko was displaying his soul to her.

The melody seared through her heart with the anger, doubts, grief and confusion of the younger Zuko. It added to an endless tenderness, hope and loyalty, laced with the pride and menace that came with his Fire Nation heritage.

It felt as though the man playing the Tsungi Horn changed into a younger version of himself, the scarce light casting a glow on his heavy, red armor, his head shaven but for the angry high ponytail. And when he looked up briefly, a deep sadness spoke from his gaze. Katara's eyes blurred.

A silence filled the air, when the last tones of the song died away. Zuko slowly straightened up and his gaze met with a pair of ocean blue eyes staring at him. They glistened like sapphires in the dim light of the candles. Katara's face was covered with tears as she inexplicably cried for things that had happened to him she didn't even know about.

With a small, regretful smile, Zuko put aside the Tsungi Horn.

"I think this is enough for this evening," he said to the captain, pretending he didn't see several of the tough men dash a tear. The captain nodded wordlessly and with that music night had ended.

* * *

**A/N:** _Thank you all very much for reviewing the previous chapter! I'm glad everyone liked the Taang intermezzo and I promise there will be more Taang. I hope you liked this chapter, too. _

_To elaborate on a few things mentioned in this chapter I would like to point out that Katara's reaction to the name Mushi suggests that the name isn't really flattering as the name actually means grave corps in Chinese. Mushi is also Japanese for insect. Not very flattering, indeed. Also, the girl from Ba Sing Se Zuko's referring to, obviously is Jin._

_When writing this chapter I was naturally inspired by the piece of music called Uncle's Tsungi Horn by The Track Team who wrote the beautiful soundtrack for Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Tsungi Horn in the show is in reality a duduk, an Armenian double reed instrument that is related to the oboe which is my favorite instrument._

_Thank you very much for reading and as always I like to thank my beta Lieta for telling apart hands and arms when Zuko and Katara are sleeping._

_Until next time!_


	12. Twilight

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 12: Twilight**

Music: Joe Hisaishi, The Dragon Boy (Spirited Away)

* * *

Zuko's years at sea did not betray him. Around noon the Fire Nation ship put in at the small Kyoshian harbor.

He glanced sideways at Katara's excited smile while she waited impatiently to go ashore and wished he could feel the same. But even after more than three years, he wasn't completely sure about the Kyoshian reaction to his unexpected visit. In fact, he dreaded to go ashore and find out. To distract himself from the thought of encountering another community with unpleasant memories of his previous visit, Zuko calmed his ostrich-horse. This proved to be enough of a challenge to divert his attention as the animal in reaction to his own restlessness, was nervously shifting on its spot.

When the ship had docked, Zuko expressed his gratitude to the captain, who was absolutely delighted with it and slowly went down the gang-board, pulling his ostrich-horse along with him.

Once at the quay, Zuko turned around to see if Katara needed help, only to discover she wasn't right behind him like he expected. Looking up at the small trade ship that, nevertheless, dominated the modest harbor, he noticed her small figure still standing on deck. She was being held back by the captain. As he narrowed his eyes, Zuko saw the captain was explaining something to her with solemn eyes, upon which Katara shook her head, her expression turning dark.

Zuko let go of his ostrich-horse and started to head back to interfere, but he froze when Katara smiled and thanked the captain. The captain responded with a respectful bow, upon which Katara took the reins of her ostrich-horse and went down the gang-board as well. At the quay she gave Zuko a small, absent-minded nod and mounted her ostrich-horse.

She didn't notice when he cast her a wary glance before he followed her example.

* * *

Katara remained deep in thought as they continued their journey into the Kyoshi hinterland. Sometimes, Zuko caught her sneaking glances at him, only to avert her eyes when their gazes crossed.

"Is something the matter?" he finally asked when he caught her gaze on purpose. She flinched and with reddening cheeks she immediately looked before her, but she didn't answer.

"What did the captain say to you? I saw him detain you." He noticed that his words made her flinch. "You've been acting very strange since then."

A hint of irritation betrayed his even voice, but she kept avoiding his searching gaze. Instead, she smiled reassuringly at him, looking at a point above his eyes. "Nothing, there's nothing wrong."

Zuko eyed her suspiciously but decided to let the matter rest.

* * *

They followed a path through the vast pine-forests covering the island. Here and there, only a few deciduous trees, already bare, rose from the snow-clad woodland soil, while delicate patches of snow softened the outline of the pointy pines. High, steep mountains surrounded them, the peaks disappearing into heavy, steel grey clouds. They promised much more snow that night.

Zuko shivered and pulled his cloak more tightly around himself, amazed at the stark transition from the mild climate of the southern mainland to this bleak winter weather in just a day's passage. He was glad that they would be arriving at their destination soon.

As the travelers followed a curve in the road, the trees gave way to an open spot in the forest and a group of plain wooden houses came into view, built at the foot of the mountains. A large community house was built in the back,with smaller houses in two rows in front of the larger house. Next to the houses, a half-frozen brook wound its way down the mountain. The proud statue of Avatar Kyoshi sprang up in the middle of the busy village square.

Upon seeing the familiar scenery unfold before her, an eager smile formed on Katara's lips. She was about to give her ostrich-horse the spurs, when she noticed that Zuko unexpectedly checked his mount, his features hardening. The animal made a few steps on the spot as he dismounted. Surprised by his actions, Katara turned around, a questioning gaze in her eyes.

"Last time I went into this village, I invaded it," Zuko explained grimly. "I brought fear and despair riding on a komodo-rhino."

Katara understood immediately. Quickly, she dismounted as well and cast him a sad smile as she did so. She could only imagine how hard it was for him to be confronted with ghosts from the past with each step he took.

A pang of regret shot through her stomach when he continued on a softer tone, "After the war ended, I immediately sent my ambassador in the Earth Kingdom to Kyoshi Island with reparation payments, using my own means." He sighed. "I know it can only do so much to make amends for the damage that I've caused, though."

As he looked at the village before him, Katara followed his forlorn gaze. She saw the spotless houses and the freshly painted statue of Avatar Kyoshi as little snowflakes started to whirl from the sky. The people seemed happy and content.

Katara turned toward Zuko.

"You did the right thing," she praised him and cast him an encouraging smile before pulling up her hood before entering the village square, holding her reins loosely in her hand. But Zuko didn't notice as he sighed, keeping his eyes locked on the village ahead.

Then he shook his head and followed Katara, hoping for the best.

* * *

When they appeared from the forests, a young girl was the first to notice their presence. She came running from the little brook, where she had been playing.

"Katara! It's Katara!" She stopped before the strange young woman, who had just emerged from the woods and looked up at her with an excited smile on her face as the people on the square broke their activities.

"Katara! Did you bring Aangy?"

Katara stiffened at the straightforward question, suddenly feeling very self-conscious as she felt Zuko's eyes resting on her, awaiting her reaction.

But she recovered quickly and bent down to the little girl, a warm smile plastered on her face. "No, Koko, Aang couldn't come with me this time. I brought Zuko with me." She cast a stern glance at the person behind the little girl. "And that means you can stop foaming now."

In the meantime, Zuko groaned inwardly. Of course the people in this town had become good friends with Team Avatar. It made things all the harder for him. He chanced a secret glance at Katara. And not for the last time he wondered how it could have been if he'd joined them earlier than he had.

His attention was drawn to the little girl when she glanced disappointedly up at Zuko, her eyes, like so many others, lingering on his scar. "Oh," she said, then she established, "You're a firebender."

Zuko nodded levelly, he was aware of that fact.

But Koko ignored his impassive reaction as she looked from the strange firebender to Katara, both similarly dressed, then asked innocently, "Does that mean you're with him now?"

Katara was completely taken aback, feeling her ears tingle as she blushed a deep crimson. She turned toward Zuko for help, utterly unable to answer the unexpected question.

Smirking slightly at her embarrassment, Zuko decided to rescue her. Neatly, he drew the girl's attention away from Katara, when he replied for her, "So, Koko, isn't it? Would you like to take us to the Warriors' dojo? I'm sure you know where it is." The girl nodded vigorously and immediately ran away.

Katara let out an involuntary sigh as she watched the girl go.

"Thank you," she whispered wholeheartedly, her face hidden in the shadows of her hood.

Zuko nodded calmly. "Any time."

* * *

"Katara!" Two arms flung around Katara's neck, heavy green robes billowing around the slender Kyoshian as she pulled Katara in. The group of similarly dressed women came out of their stances and smiled, putting away their katanas with an elegant gesture.

"Suki, it's so good to see you!" Katara embraced her future sister-in-law. "It's been too long."

"I know," Suki agreed and held Katara at arm's length, examining her. "But I must say, you look great. Much better than the last time I saw you. You looked so frail back then. So weary..."

Then Suki noticed Katara's silent traveling companion and before he knew it, Zuko was pulled into a tight embrace as well. A little shyly, he patted the Kyoshian's back before she let go.

"Zuko! It's good to see you, too!" Suki exclaimed enthusiastically, her adorable smile softening her fierce warrior's make-up. "Of course I knew you both would be coming. We already received a messenger-hawk from General Iroh a few days ago. I will take you to Oyaji and then we can catch up on things."

They were coaxed along by the Kyoshian, who brought them to the community house with firm steps. As Zuko followed the female warrior, something occurred to him. "Suki, I didn't see Ty Lee in the dojo. Wasn't she supposed to be with the Kyoshi Warriors?"

Suki paused and turned to look at him. "As soon as Ty Lee heard of your quest, she decided she was needed more in the Fire Nation and left on the first trade vessel that headed there."

The Kyoshian let her blue eyes wander from Zuko to Katara, who looked rather dismayed.

"Oh," was all Zuko managed to say as Katara shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

A devious grin turned Suki's warrior make-up into a devilish mask. "Come, we mustn't keep Oyaji waiting."

* * *

The community house was a much larger building than the rest of the houses in the village and home to the leader of the village, Oyaji.

Katara and Zuko were received in the grand hall, where Oyaji was waiting for them, sitting on a low platform. Behind him, a silk tapestry portraying episodes of Avatar Kyoshi's life hung from the high ceiling. The rest of the hall was empty but for the cherry blossom carvings in the dark wooden rafters, created with extraordinary craftsmanship.

Impressed by the ancient interior, Zuko and Katara quietly took their seats on two cushions that lay across from the leader of the village and waited. The village leader was an older, grey bearded man with stern features, wearing the typical blue yukata. He also had an extremely large topknot.

For a moment nobody spoke, while Oyaji eyed Zuko with a thoughtful expression on his face and the young firebender bowed his head in remorse. He looked up when he heard a rumbling voice. "Your Majesty."

The village leader had his gaze fixed on him, then he made a stiff, curt bow, Kyoshi style. Matters had been settled and didn't need to be spoken through again. Zuko's face brightened with relief as he bowed back, clapping an open hand against his fist in the traditional Fire Nation way.

Oyaji nodded approvingly at Zuko's gesture, before he narrowed his eyes, watching the hopeful young couple before him. He already knew he would have to disappoint them.

"As you may have already expected," he then stated simply, "Princess Ursa of the Fire Nation is not on Kyoshi Island. In fact, Princess Ursa has never been on Kyoshi Island."

Zuko set his jaw and looked at his hands, struggling with the disappointment at Oyaji's matter-of-fact words. He had been expecting this, but the confirmation of his fears still hit him hard. He knew he shouldn't have had gotten his hopes up so much, but a part of him couldn't help but long to see his mother on Kyoshi Island. Now he was left only with the disheartening knowledge that they hadn't even come one step closer to finding her and a quickly rising anger at his uncle, who should have known how much he still missed his mother. He inhaled deeply, trying to control the emotions searing through him. He didn't notice Katara's worried glance at her traveling companion but when her small hand unexpectedly covered his he was forced to look at her.

Slowly, he raised his eyes and met with a stern expression in her glistening, blue gaze.

"Zuko," she warned him, "there must be another reason why your uncle would send us to Kyoshi Island."

Resentment flickered through his golden eyes at her words but her gaze pointedly held his. For a moment, he struggled to keep his emotions in check. Then he relaxed under Katara's calming touch and sighed. "I know."

"Princess Katara is right," Oyaji boomed. "I think the Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus has sent you to Kyoshi Island first, because he wanted you to see something that could be important to your quest."

He smiled when the couple looked up in surprise. "I want you to meet me at Kyoshi's Temple at twilight."

* * *

When they left, Suki was already waiting for them outside.

"We have to visit Kyoshi's Temple when twilight falls," Katara said upon noticing Suki's questioning gaze.

"Oh," Suki said and hesitantly added, "so, that means..."

"My mother isn't here on the island," Zuko finished her sentence calmly, looking her straight in the eye. "But I expect that you, as the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, already knew about that."

Suki sighed and put a hand to his arm in a sympathetic gesture. "Actually, yeah. But there was always the chance she could have been in hiding under Oyaji's protection. Then even I wouldn't have found her."

With that, she turned around and motioned them to follow her.

* * *

After about ten minutes, they arrived in the modest, wooden house where Suki lived. It was a home she shared with other female warriors and wasn't far from the dojo. During the pleasant walk none of them had spoken much, each consumed by their own thoughts.

Suki brought them to the surprisingly cozy living room, then excused herself to change her attire. As her footsteps died away on the stairs, Zuko looked around. Although he had known Suki for more than three years now, he had never visited her on Kyoshi Island. It was nice to see where she lived.

As with all of the buildings in the village, the wooden house was built on a stone foundation. The cold was kept outside by shutters and the floor was covered by a blue carpet with several blue and green cushions lying around the low table in front of the large fireplace. A tapestry portraying Avatar Kyoshi with her famous fans decorated the opposite wall, though smaller than the one in the community house. The room was slightly chilly as none of the warriors had been at home during daytime. Within seconds, Zuko had a warm fire burning and decided to make them some tea.

He followed Katara into the kitchen, who sat down at the large table, relieved that she had remembered it so well.

A companionable silence descended upon them as Zuko busied himself with making tea.

He turned around to the sound of Katara's voice breaking the silence. "What is this? I can't remember her wearing this?"

She picked up a gold armband for the upper arm, which Suki had left on the table, next to her headband. Elegant characters forming the name Kyoshi decorated the shimmering band.

"That's the sign of my status as leader of all of the Kyoshi Warrior groups all over the island, not just my own group," a voice came from the doorway and they both looked up to see the shoji door being pushed sideways as Suki entered the kitchen.

Her warrior make-up was gone and she was dressed in a plain blue yukata. Suddenly, she looked like the lovely young woman she also was instead of the frightful warrior. "Half a year ago, the leaders of the warrior groups and the village leaders offered me the title of Kyoshi, which made me the leader of all warrior groups on the island."

She sat down. "The title hasn't been used for the last hundred years, since the Avatar disappeared."

As she followed Suki's movements, Katara couldn't help but notice a hint of derision in the warrior's voice. She didn't seem too enthusiastic about her promotion, so Katara swallowed her congratulations.

"They did the right thing to honor you for your role in ending the war," Zuko remarked as he poured them a cup of tea, flashing Suki a stern glance.

But Suki let out a disdainful "Humph," and stared out the window, bringing her steaming cup to her lips. "They are only trying to keep me here."

Zuko shook his head and sat down. "Nevertheless…" he objected and with a thoughtful expression took a sip from his tea.

Suki rolled her eyes at him. "The tea is good, Zuko."

Katara had been watching silently as Zuko and Suki seemed to continue a conversation they most likely had started earlier on. Which had probably been when Suki and Sokka had attended the Fire Nation Festival this summer. She realized that she hadn't, in fact, known about Suki's promotion, while even Zuko apparently had. It made her feel excluded and her heart stung with loneliness. This was another painful confrontation with her never ending travels around the world.

Still, something Suki had said distracted her from her dejected thoughts and as she let her eyes rest upon the Kyoshian, Katara noticed it.

There, barely noticeable between the Kyoshi blues, a round turquoise dangled from a turquoise colored velvet ribbon around Suki's slender neck, the stone carved with both Water Tribe and Kyoshi symbols. She leaned forward, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Is that… a betrothal necklace?"

Suki brought her hand to her neck and started to grin. "Well, yes. Sokka liked this particular Northern Water Tribe tradition which he wanted to introduce to the Southern Water Tribe."

Katara sucked in her breath. "He proposed to you!" she exclaimed. "When? When was Sokka here?"

"About a week ago," Suki said, touching the necklace in a loving gesture as an adorable blush appeared on her cheeks.

Meanwhile, Zuko watched the girls with a dumbstruck expression on his face, barely following what this was all about, but slowly a few things started to dawn on him.

He fixed his gaze on Suki's necklace, recognizing the resemblance to Katara's. He didn't have to see Katara's necklace to know the differences.

Three years ago, when he had found her necklace and kept it with him, he had often pulled it out of his sleeve when nobody was watching, and secretly studied the intricate carvings as he caressed the soft, velvet ribbon. Zuko had an eye for antiques and he had already noticed the necklace was old. Only later he had discovered that the necklace had belonged to Katara's mother and grandmother.

As he had been sitting on his futon, surrounded by fiery red flags with the golden Fire Nation insignia on them, he had enjoyed the faint, soothing scent of water lilies that still lingered in the delicate fabric. Even more often, the necklace had been laced through his fingers as he rested his head in his hands, the stone softly shimmering in the candlelight. When Aang had taken it back, it had felt as if the necklace was stolen from him.

"It's beautiful," he heard Katara say as she carefully accepted the necklace Suki had taken off.

Suki nodded. "Sokka said he had invented some sort of device to improve on the quality of the carvings."

The girls looked at each other and at the same time, burst into giggles.

"And to think, I didn't like Sokka at all, when I first met him," Suki said dreamily and Zuko looked up with watchful eyes.

For all he could tell Suki had always been Sokka's girlfriend, although he knew about Princess Yue and Toph's long lasting crush on the Water Tribe boy. He was actually surprised about her confession. His gaze subconsciously trailed toward Katara. He couldn't help but remember their first meeting, which had been rocky to say the least.

Suki intercepted his gaze and explained with an innocent look, "I tied him to a tree."

She smiled in satisfaction as Zuko choked on his hot tea and burst into a coughing fit.

* * *

At dusk, two hooded figures walked through the Paifang gate and arrived at Avatar Kyoshi's temple.

It was a small, round wooden building overlooking the sea from its position high on the cliff, surrounded by towering, snow-covered pine trees. For a moment they paused to watch the sun disappearing on the horizon. The sea before them was colored blood red in the last rays of the sun while behind them new snow clouds were forming.

"Twilight is the only time of day when the opposite elements of fire and water meet, a joining of Agni and La under the watchful eye of Tui. It is the right moment," the village leader boomed from behind them, startling the young people.

They looked at each other, not sure what Oyaji meant with these words. But Oyaji was already beckoning them to follow him inside as soft snowflakes began to fall.

The travelers stepped into the temple that Katara had already come to know on that dreadful Avatar Day more than three years ago. The kimono, boots and metal fans of Avatar Kyoshi were still placed at the same spot as she'd seen them the last time.

Oyaji led them along the artifacts and explained with clear pride a few things about them, almost having a heart attack when Zuko reached out to touch one of the fans.

Then the village leader stopped before the tapestry portraying the birth of Kyoshi and looked at it thoughtfully. "Kyoshi Island has a special place in the world, as it's an Earth Kingdom island, home to many earthbenders like Avatar Kyoshi, while we also cherish the waterbenders' influence on our culture. It shows in our clothing and the famous Kyoshi Warrior combat style, which turns the strength of opponents against them by using the metal fans."

Pride laced Oyaji's words and Katara began to understand what it would mean to him, to the island, to let go of Kyoshi's most successful daughter, one of the Young War Heroes. Kyoshi Island would lose the symbol of its strength. But, at the same time, Katara also knew that when the right time came Suki would not hesitate to leave the island of her youth to be with the one she loved, no matter what honors the Kyoshians would give her to convince her to stay.

The village leader caught Katara's gaze. "Losing Suki isn't easy for us, but we're glad it's the Water Tribe we're losing her to."

At this, he turned around and approached a dusty corner in the temple. "I had never expected this would happen during my days," he mumbled to himself as he pulled open a part of the wooden floor.

With an astonished look at each other, Zuko and Katara went to stand next to the older man as, before their eyes, an ancient staircase was revealed, hewn out of the cliff the wooden temple was standing on. They stared into the utter darkness enveloping the stairs after five steps, making it impossible to see how deep the staircase would lead inside the cliff.

"Your Majesty, if you please?" Oyaji made a gesture towards the staircase and Zuko nodded, producing a bright flame in his hand as he went before Katara and the Kyoshian.

* * *

Silently, the group of people walked down the ancient, endlessly continuing and worn out steps. The moist chill of the crying rocks surrounding them crept into their bones as they followed the golden flame.

Just when Katara began to wonder if the staircase would ever come to an end, they reached an archway, leading to an open space.

Zuko enlarged the flame he was carrying to reveal a gigantic hall and Zuko and Katara's mouths dropped at the sight of the enormous arches supporting the high ceiling. Thousands of lotus flowers were hewn out of the stone pillars with painstaking precision, silent witnesses of endless patience and unbelievable craftsmanship.

Behind a large altar the symbols of the four nations were carved out as well, the colors had faded away with time, as all that remained were vague streaks of what used to be brilliant blues, greens, oranges and reds. There seemed to be some sort of temple as well, which resembled none the building styles of any of the four nations. It was completely unique.

Completely astonished, Zuko and Katara wandered around, eyes wide, their steps sounding hollow in the wide-open space as they took in the breathtaking sight.

"This is a Temple of the White Lotus," Oyaji whispered reverently. "It's been here since long before Avatar Kyoshi's Temple, even before Kyoshi herself. The temple already existed when Kyoshi Island wasn't even an island yet."

He laid his hand on the dusty altar. "It was most likely created in the untraceable times when the first benders appeared and the Avatar Cycle came into existence. Some say the temple was made by members of the Order of the White Lotus, others say it's the work of the spirits themselves. Even the Order doesn't know for sure."

He went to stand beside Zuko and Katara who had listened in awe, their eyes fixed on the faded symbols of the four nations. He followed their gazes. "These kinds of temples appear everywhere in the world where Avatars have been born. It's not known if the Order used to have knowledge of the birth location of Avatars to come, or that other forces have been at work here."

"So, there must be one near the Fire Nation Palace as well," Zuko whispered and Katara immediately turned to look at him, surprised by the unexpected question. She felt that there was more to his remark than he let on. Suddenly, she wondered how much he knew about the story of Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku.

Oyaji let his attentive eyes rest on the Fire Lord as well, before he continued. "During the course of time in which the Order of the White Lotus has became a secret organization, the knowledge of the locations of the known temples has become hidden as well. Members of the Black Lotus Council only know about the locations for their respective nations and only the Grandmaster knows the location of all of the temples."

At Katara's questioning gaze he elaborated, "I'm not a member of the Order of the White Lotus but as a Kyoshian I do value the principles of the Order. Since I'm the current head of the village, I'm also keeper and caretaker of the Temple. The knowledge about the Kyoshian Temple has been passed down from one village leader to another."

"So, why are you showing us then?" Zuko asked the question, Katara also had in mind.

Oyaji inclined his head and for a moment he let his eyes rest on the gold and silver lotus clasps on their dark cloaks. "You are the Grandmaster's apprentices. I don't know about the exact reasons why, but it's been a long time since the Grandmaster himself has had apprentices and he sent you here."

Shock dripped from Katara and Zuko's faces as their gazes crossed. This was the second time already that someone had described them as apprentices of the Grandmaster, whatever that was supposed to mean. But it opened doors that otherwise would have remained closed and for a fleeting moment Katara wondered if it was only Princess Ursa they were searching for. The strange feeling in her stomach told her otherwise.

Oyaji smiled at their astonishment. "A week ago I received message from the Grandmaster announcing your arrival, although he didn't mention the Temple. But I'm sure he wanted you to see it. There's a special secret about this temple, that isn't to be found in any of the other known temples."

He wiped away some dust from the altar and revealed a rough amethyst, embedded in the cave stone, glowing weakly in the light of Zuko's flame.

"This gemstone has been in this altar since time immemorial. The ancient scrolls tell that only two benders, with an open mind to other, even opposite, elements, can make it work. Please, put a hand on the stone, each one of you," he whispered again.

Hesitantly, they reached out to the stone, Katara's right hand slightly brushing Zuko's left hand as they laid them next to each other on the stone. A shiver ran down her spine.

The village leader frowned. "No. Like this."

He picked up their hands, laced their fingers through each other, folded Zuko's hand protectively around Katara's and put them on the amethyst again. In reaction the flame in Zuko's other hand flickered and Katara let out a small gasp.

But Oyaji wasn't patient with their awkwardness. He turned around and pointed towards the wall behind the altar, willing the young people to watch.

There, above the insignia of the four nations, thin trails of light started to glow in what had been a smooth wall where no outlines of any sort had been before. Zuko was sure of it.

"Put out the flame," Oyaji then ordered.

"But..." Katara protested.

Zuko, however, saw the older man's face and knew there would be no arguing. He closed his hand, immediately leaving everything in darkness.

The thin lines of light now started to shine brighter than before, slowly revealing the elegant form of a closed lotus flower. The faint outlines of Oyaji's silhouette became visible, his tense gaze fixed on the wall.

Next to Zuko, Katara shifted nervously on her spot. Her hand had warmed up comfortably in Zuko's hold and she dared a glance at him as he stared at the expanding lotus flower in front of him, a tense expression on his face. His regular features, which always bore a little melancholy, even when he smiled, were covered mostly by the darkness surrounding them, but for the light reflected in his gold, almond eyes. She felt that his closeness drew her toward him, making her want to lean into him but at the same time a growing feeling of nervousness warned her that this longing somehow made the lotus figure before her come into existence.

Part of her wanted to pull away from the amethyst, to put a safe distance between them while another part wanted desperately to stay in his touch.

Closing her eyes, she recognized that the feeling was reminiscent of the time when she'd hugged him after their little field trip three years ago. He had hugged her back in a way Aang had never done, and to her own frustration she had longed for that hug ever since. Longed for his silent understanding of her as she watched him sleep peacefully next to her on Appa's paw. Wondered if his lips would taste like he smelled, a little spicy with a hint of smoke.

Katara's hand cramped under Zuko's touch, her eyebrows furrowing as she struggled with her confusing and unnerving feelings.

The lotus flower in front of them started to slow down the opening of her petals, to finally come to a stop at only half of its possible expansion. Oyaji gasped, then frantically started to wander from one side of the flower to another, not understanding why it had stopped moving.

But Zuko turned to look down on Katara's dark hair, feeling her agony as she stubbornly avoided his gaze, her eyes fixed on the glowing lotus. A sad smile briefly flashed across his face at seeing her struggle, then he cast a look at the diminishing lotus flower.

Katara flinched when she felt an arm being put around her small shoulders, reassuringly emanating some warmth as she was being pulled against Zuko. She closed her eyes and she shivered as her heart made a strange leap.

Then, as he bowed his head toward her, Zuko whispered something in her ear, his lips slightly brushing her temple when he withdrew.

The moment, his lips touched the soft skin of her face, an electrical shock surged through both of them and their eyes widened in shock as the lotus flower continued to widen her petals to her full extent. Both the Fire Nation and Water Tribe insignia rose from the heart, sending the whole underground temple into a purple glow. A gentle laugh unexpectedly tingled through the enormous space.

Katara subconsciously stepped even closer to Zuko and, forgetting about her previous hesitation, she slipped her arm around his waist. In response, he tightened his grip on her shoulders.

"Well done, dragon boy," the voice softly said, "and just in time."

The smooth wall in between the glowing lines disappeared and the last, weak rays of the setting sun entered the underground temple.

But as soon as the view on the darkening sea had appeared, it disappeared again. Instead, the silhouette of a familiar figure slowly emerged from the purple glow. A tattered veil hung from her rice hat, her loose robes flowing around her as she moved. She smiled as she approached them.

"The Painted Lady," Katara breathed in shock, the words barely audible.

"We meet again," the spirit smiled.

They nodded, at a loss for words. The Painted Lady gestured towards the amethyst, glowing purple underneath their hands.

"This amethyst has been in this stone altar thousands of years ago for when times came that the Order of the White Lotus was in dire need to be saved. This was to be done by two opposites of the most unlikely kind: a firebender and a waterbender. They would have to erase the last disturbance of the balance between the elements, to prevent the twilight of the gods."

She gave a tingling laugh. "As the Southern Lights have recognized the Grandmaster's representatives as the chosen ones, you were able to let the white lotus glow."

She stretched out her white shining hand, slender and fragile and in a protective reflex, Zuko entirely covered Katara's hand. Again, the spirit smiled as she lightly placed her hand over his. It felt both warm and cold to the touch. An unnerving sensation.

"I am a water spirit bound to the Fire Nation. By touching the purple amethyst the chosen firebender and waterbender have summoned me here. I will guide you in the next steps of your quest."

* * *

**A/N:**_ A quick update this week, since I have this week off and ah, this isn't good for the length of the chapter! I was trying to keep it at 3.000 words but as you can see, I failed miserably..._

_Things to note about this chapter: _

_Since Zuko and Katara are now on Kyoshi Island and Kyoshi Island has been inspired by Japan, I put in some references to Japan, indicating that Kyoshi Island differs much from the, Chinese influenced, mainland. I was thinking about using suffixes too, but since those have not been used in the show, I decided not to._

_To explain some references: 1) a yukata is a plain kind of kimono, for everyday use and made of cotton 2) a katana is a kind of sword, with which people who also read manga or watch anime are well familiar with._

_Concerning this chapter's music: this time I described beautiful track from the movie Spirited Away: The Dragon Boy. This is the theme in which Haku, the river spirit, is introduced. The music fits perfectly with the classic Japanese atmosphere of Kyoshi Island. I even let the song title come back in the story._

_I'm glad everyone liked music night in the previous chapter. I tried my best at describing what I think Uncle's Tsungi Horn is about and I'm relieved it worked. Also, Ava22 asked me if Katara knows about Zuko's scar already. And the answer, for now, is no. She doesn't know yet, but as you can read in this chapter, she may be put on the right track to finally ask..._

_As always, I want to thank my beta Lieta for her continuing enthusiasm for the story._

_**Thanks for the reviews everyone! It's great when you tell me how you feel about the story!**_


	13. Hilarious

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 13: Hilarious**

Music: Rebecca Kneubuhl & Gabriel Mann, Credits (The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning)

* * *

The Water Tribe ship sailing southwards elegantly cut through the small waves as it was pushed along by the cold polar winds that bellied out the ship's blue sails. Tiny snowflakes whirled around the mainmast, slowly disappearing from sight as darkness began to envelope the wooden ship. It was the third day at sea since the ship had left the Kyoshian port and the weather slowly started to change as the ship drew nearer to the South Pole with each gust of icy wind.

Late in the afternoon the door to the cabins below deck opened and Zuko appeared on deck. Looking around, his gaze was drawn toward the silent crewmember lighting the beacon that hung from the typical high stern. The man was clad in a graceless but warm Water Tribe parka. Zuko envied the man for it as he stomped his feet to stay warm, his breath forming clouds of steam in the bleak air. His own woolen cloak didn't do much to retain the warmth he emanated by raising his body temperature.

As the crewmember crawled back to the safety of the deck, a golden light started to cast a warm glow on the ship's sharp outlines. It resembled the haunting and majestic appearance of the polar wolf. Impressed by the view, Zuko remained on his spot, watching the beacon move in the bleak wind. He nodded politely when the crewmember cast a wary glance at him, then quickly disappeared below deck again. The sound of water spraying against the bow made him look up intently.

A day had passed since they had left Kyoshi Island and embarked on this, in Zuko's eyes, tiny Water Tribe ship. When he came aboard, Zuko had harbored strong doubts about its seaworthiness, comparing the fragile wooden appearance to the steel-clad steamers he was accustomed to. But Katara had assured him, with sparkling eyes, that Water Tribe ships were a lot faster and more trustworthy than the lumbering Earth Kingdom ones. And as Zuko realized that Katara had overcome a similar discomfort upon entering a Fire Nation ship again, he decided to cast off his doubts and trust Katara's judgment.

When the ship had left the Kyoshian port, Zuko and Katara had silently watched the island disappear in the distance. For several hours, the peaks of the mountains, capped in eternal snow, had remained in their view, until the darkness of night concealed those, too.

* * *

As the Water Tribe ship headed for the South Pole, two people, standing at the quay, followed the ship's course as it put out to sea.

With great difficulty, the village leader had been able to keep Suki from leaving Kyoshi Island with Zuko and Katara when she had first learned their next destination. But her sense of responsibility eventually had the better of her and she had hugged Katara and Zuko, before waving goodbye to them. She remained standing at the quay until the Water Tribe ship had disappeared from sight.

When she turned to leave she was stopped by Oyaji's voice, breaking the silence.

"You made the right decision, Suki. This is not your journey to undertake," the village leader said solemnly. He looked sideways to the young woman next to him, her cheeks glowing with tears.

For a moment, Suki didn't respond, then she closed her blue eyes and touched her necklace. "This was the last time," she said, her voice low, "I've had enough. No more."

Then she stalked away, her short auburn tresses waving in the wind, followed with his eyes by Oyaji. His expression showed a certain melancholia as he watched his best Kyoshi Warrior go. And he knew that she meant it.

* * *

The days passed by quietly on board the Water Tribe vessel and Zuko was suprised to notice that the Southern Water Tribe crewmembers treated Katara and the Fire Lord accompanying her with uninhibited familiarity, which contrasted sharply with the submissive way the Fire Nation crew had acted toward them.

Up until three years ago, the Southern Water Tribe had been a scattered, and almost extinguished, mixed lot of survivors without a form of government or royal family. Three years later, the Southern Water Tribe had remained a far less complex society than any of the other nations and the royal family was not isolated by such rigid boundaries as was customary elsewhere, in especially the Fire Nation. Even King Kuei, the Earth King, was more approachable than Zuko.

These traditions were a thorn in Zuko's side and he fought every day against the isolation the previous Fire Lords had cultivated for themselves. So, he looked upon the easy-going, almost fatherly way the Water Tribe crew treated their Princess with both interest and envy. It didn't bother him that some of the men were somewhat more cautious towards him. He was the first to understand that a hundred years of Fire Nation aggression wasn't easily forgotten.

Zuko watched the Water Tribe man leave and then he followed the sound of spurting water. With measured steps, he crossed the deck to find the person he had been looking for, near the stem.

Her hooded figure seemed to merge with the darkness surrounding her as she leaned against the railing. She didn't notice him.

Quietly, Zuko went to stand beside her. Then he noticed that her hands were moving restlessly, her eyes fixed on the dark surface below. She was bending the water.

Careful not to disturb her, he leaned against the railing as well, his eyes following the movements of the water under Katara's hands in fascination. She wasn't really practicing, more like... playing with her element with a slight smile on her face. Now and then, small, silvery penguin-fish with sharp beaks would jump up from the water, going along with Katara's little game, as she let the water curl and wave around the playful animals.

Regretful that he couldn't contribute more, Zuko lit a small flame in his hand to illuminate Katara's bending. Up until the moment they embarked on this Water Tribe ship, Zuko had managed to maintain his iron discipline in practicing firebending at dawn when Katara was still asleep. Aboard this wooden ship, however, he had to refrain from wielding any fire larger than the flame in his hand until the moment of their arrival at the South Pole. It was a tough break for him and he was bent on talking Katara into a practice fight once they had reached the South Pole.

But now the water and the penguin-fish sparkled in the warm light and as a smile appeared on Katara's features he simply enjoyed watching her bending her element. Her hood had fallen off and the flame in his hand cast a dark golden glow on her features. Strings of her curly hair had loosened from her braid and gently waved in the wind. She was holding her head up high and her eyes shone like sapphires as her gaze followed the penguin-fish splashing around the bow.

It was a sight that made his heart skip a beat. His eyes trailed from the slight smile gracing her lips to her slender fingers mimicking the flowing movements of the waters below. And as his gaze lingered there, he remembered the moments he'd learned to fear her bending when she would raise those small hands to summon her element for a deadly attack. They were capable of handling razor-sharp icicles and commanding gigantic waves, but now they lazily teased ocean creatures with elegant movements.

He remembered the moments when those small hands, within a few days time, had touched his face and held onto him as Katara had joined him in a passionate dance. Or when her fingers had rested on his chest in peaceful slumber. Fingers which had been intimately laced through his when their hands had rested on the amethyst in the Temple of the White Lotus.

"Did you ever expect to be sent to the Southern Water Tribe by The Painted Lady?" Katara suddenly said quietly, pulling Zuko from his thoughts.

He turned his head to look at her, noticing the barely concealed longing in her voice. Then he shook his head in answer to her question. He hadn't. In fact, he had half expected to be sent back to Omashu again, but The Painted Lady had told them in her melodic voice to head for the Southern Water Tribe instead. They had to meet with the Water Tribe Representative in the Black Lotus Council. In other words: Master Pakku.

"I'm sure a lot has changed since my last visit." Quiet grief laced Katara's quiet words as she stared out over the dark ocean. Somewhere behind the invisible horizon lay the South Pole, the Southern Water Tribe's ever-white lands that she was now princess of. Her home, which she hadn't seen for such a long time. They both knew why: Aang's wanderlust.

"Hey..." The flame next to her disappeared and instead Katara felt two warm hands hesitantly, awkwardly being put on her shoulders. It felt nice. "I'm sure Toph will knock some sense into Aang."

Zuko's husky voice sounded strained, almost as if he had to force the words out of his mouth, afraid to ruin the atmosphere by bringing up Aang, while at the same time he felt that she needed the comfort.

Katara merely nodded, bitterly acknowledging that Toph would probably manage to succeed, too. Her shoulders tensed. She didn't want to talk about her troubles with Aang either.

Zuko noticed that her body had grown rigid and as his lips curled in a regretful smile, he lightly squeezed her shoulders, emanating some warmth. Great was his surprise when he noticed that she didn't pull away like he'd expected her to do, but seemed to relax into his touch instead. As his heart made a strange tumble he carefully continued to conduct warmth to her shoulders, subconsciously putting off the moment when he would have to let go.

Katara felt the warmth of his hands spread underneath her woolen cloak and involuntarily closed her eyes as the tight knot in her stomach slowly disappeared. Her mind told her weakly to step aside but the soothing sensation radiating from his touch drew her in and she allowed herself to slightly lean into his chest instead.

Vaguely, Katara realized that she was falling in love with Zuko's ability to make her forget about her worries with a mere touch or a small word.

'It's only for a moment,' she promised herself as she closed her eyes. A contented sigh escaped her lips as she savored his warmth in the freezing evening.

When Katara moved slightly under his touch, Zuko had thought her about to step away from him. But as he prepared for the disappointment, her body unexpectedly leaned into him, her back intimately coming to rest against his chest as she sighed softly.

His breath caught. Slowly, he lowered his gaze to the crown of her head as he tried to process the unexpected move she'd made. She must feel the erratic beating of his heart. Nonetheless, she allowed her head to rest against his collarbone as his hands slid down her shoulders. For a moment, Zuko held himself perfectly still, savoring Katara's closeness.

When Katara had decided him to be worthy of her trust, he had noticed that she, who always carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, seemed to relax in his presence of all people. It had him puzzled at first to see her delicate features softening over an hour of talking about nothing. Tea. The weather. Old memories. Or when her slender body rested peacefully next to his as they shared one of Appa's paws. It felt nice to have that effect on the girl for whom he held a soft spot in his heart for her readiness to help him in the Ba Sing Se catacombs.

Over the years he had discovered that she had the same effect on him. Looking into her blue eyes after months of not seeing each other was enough to cause a certain feeling of peace and tranquility, only slightly disturbed by the quickening of his pulse when she cast him a smile.

Zuko bowed his head and the fresh scent of water lilies reached his nostrils. On impulse, he raised his arms and crossed them before Katara's chest, pulling her into him.

For a moment, she tensed slightly at the sudden gesture, but then she carefully placed her hands on his arms, holding him in place. Once again, his heart skipped a beat. A grateful smile formed on his lips and as he dared to rest his head upon her soft hair, he closed his eyes.

Katara couldn't distinguish whose heart it was she felt beating furiously as she tried to control her breathing, though the feeling of Zuko's warm breath brushing her neck was not helping. Her confused thoughts wandered back to the moment in the underground temple when The Painted Lady had appeared. Zuko had put his arm around her and whispered some comforting words into her ear, words to encourage her to let go of her nervousness, though she couldn't remember exactly what he'd said. However, she certainly did remember the feeling of his lips against her temple for a split second... It had felt like a feathery, infinitely tender kiss that shot through the core of her being when the slight caress had already disappeared. She found herself unconsciously touching her temple whenever her gaze passed over Zuko's lips ever since. Unable to forget.

Silently, they stood in the freezing cold darkness of night, staring into the distance with unseeing eyes, as thick snow clouds started to veil the moon and the stars. Katara sunk back into Zuko's warm and protective, almost... loving hold as the marred skin of his cheek, resting on her crown, warmed her hair and the skin underneath it. It was then that she remembered.

"Zuko," she whispered, breaking the peaceful silence. "When The Painted Lady appeared in the Temple of the White Lotus, you were startled and touched your scar. Why did you do that?"

Her breath hitched in surprise when Zuko flinched in response, tightening his arms around her as he jerked up his head.

Katara's question roughly brought Zuko back to reality and his stomach dropped. Had she noticed his reaction in the underground temple? It had been an instinctive one as it reminded him of what The Painted Lady had said to him at the turtle duck pond. 'This is water from the Spirit Oasis... It has healing abilities...'

He had been terrified that The Painted Lady would repeat those words to Katara and reveal to the waterbender how much he'd been affected by what had happened in the Crystal Caves in Ba Sing Se, leaving his heart open and utterly vulnerable for her to see. When she had offered to heal him, despite him being her enemy, she didn't ask about the whys or wherefores about the scar marring the left side of his face. Instead, she had simply wanted to fulfill his silent wish to erase it from his memory, feeling the pain it caused him. It had only contributed to his admiration for the selfless Water Tribe girl.

His gratitude toward her had led him to protect her from the horror, the agonizing truth that lay behind the scar on his face. More than once, he was on the point of telling her but when he looked into her gentle eyes he had backed out, not wanting to burden her with the story. She didn't deserve that. And so he had ignored the craving to tell her, hoping that she'd never ask. But he also knew that the night he played the Tsungi Horn for her had changed something between them. The one wall still standing between them, the one wall he'd guarded all those years to protect her, he'd started to breach himself as he played the music his uncle had based on him. And she'd noticed.

A cold wind was picking up, but Zuko didn't notice as the memory of a searing fire coming his way suddenly consumed his mind. His body froze as an excruciating pain and the sickening smell of burned flesh took over his senses. From a far distance he heard his uncle's voice calling out to him in utter panic and a girl's voice, much too close, that laughed cruelly and sneered, "That was hilarious Zuzu... You always make such a fool of yourself."

Then his memory had gone blank. The darkness had lasted for a week.

Katara felt that her tentative question somehow knocked the air out of Zuko and she tried to look around to see his ashen face, but he turned away, avoiding her gaze.

"It doesn't matter. It's not important," he answered softly, with only the hint of a tremble in his voice betraying the agony he felt right now.

But Katara now pulled down his arms, holding them tightly as she turned around. She raised her head, her searching gaze coming to rest on his scar.

Clouds of breaths were mixing as she captured his gaze in her cool, blue eyes, studying the pain he desperately tried to conceal with an aloof expression. His defiance shielded her from the hurt lying underneath. She could almost feel his chest laboring. He was in agony.

"I think it is," Katara contradicted him calmly. "Earlier you told me you had met with The Painted Lady before. But she didn't just leave the lotus flower in the turtle duck pond, didn't she?"

Katara slowly lifted a hand and Zuko flinched, expecting her to reach for his scar. But instead her demanding fingers took a hold of his chin, turning him around to face her. Looking especially into the one that was always half closed.

"Zuko... How did you get that scar?"

* * *

**A/N:** _**Thank**_ _**all of you who have reviewed the previous chapter! I'm thrilled with all of the positive responses I received!**_

_Strata's Stargazer noted that it wasn't clear when Zuko and Suki had started their talk about her promotion to leader of all of the Kyoshi Warriors. I assume they talked about it last Fire Nation Festival, when Katara and Aang had been absent. Because I couldn't elaborate in this chapter, I decided to make a small alteration in the previous chapter to clear it up._

_There were also a couple of reviewers who asked for more Taang. Since this story is driven by prompts from the Zutara Eternity group at dA, it's difficult to create whole chapters about them, but I'm planning on lacing their story through a couple of chapters to come, like I did with Control. I'm glad you like their storyline, because I'm not accustomed to reading/writing Taang fanfics._

_About this chapter:_

_Yes, Katara and Zuko are heading for the South Pole! I'm so excited to see what has become of the city Master Pakku has been rebuilding!_

_To be honest, this chapter was a struggle for me. Last week I uploaded a long chapter with lots of things happening and the prompt Hilarious was hard to fit in that train of events. Finally_, _I've decided to make a chapter in which I zoom in on some more intimate interaction between Zuko and Katara. I spent a long time__thinking about how to use the word hilarious in a story that has become more serious at this point and decided to let the story tell me. So, when I was writing, Katara brought up the subject of Zuko's scar. Immediately after that I remembered the screenshots from Zuko's Agni Kai with his father and Azula's excited look on her face. And then I had my solution, "That was hilarious, Zuzu..."_

_Probably not what you've been expecting at seeing the chapter title, so I like the little surprise hidden in it. You expect comedy and what you get is drama. My little Sinterklaas gift to you all..._

_As alway, I would like to thank my beta Lieta for our interesting discussions on shipbuilding terminology._

_Vrolijk Sinterklaasfeest!_


	14. Worthwhile

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 14: Worthwhile**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Atlantis

* * *

The corridor in the small Upper Ring house was shrouded in darkness but for a small stream of light coming from the slightly ajar door to the retired general's study. A faint scent of jasmine tea accompanied the golden glow.

Inside his study, the old man sat behind his desk, his back slightly bent as he studied the seal of a scroll lying before him. The damp whirling from his teacup sometimes misted the glass of the oil lamp, before disappearing into the darkness above it.

Carefully, General Iroh adjusted the intensity of the lamp's light and for a moment the flame flickered across him, casting shadows over the deep lines in his face. The dry sound of the seal breaking disturbed the peaceful silence, followed by the rustling sound of the scroll being opened. The green ribbon he put aside.

Bearing a somewhat tense expression, his clever eyes went over the characters and softened as he read the letter. Then a slight smile appeared on his lips and he nodded in approval.

* * *

Calmly, the Water Tribe ship searched its way through the many icebergs that were typical in the southern sea. Zuko and Katara were standing at the railing, watching the penguins jump on and off of the grim, floating mountains. They both looked up when the captain approached them and bowed respectfully.

"When we've rounded this last iceberg, we will reach the harbor," he pointed out and he glanced sideways at Katara who barely nodded, as she stood motionless next to Zuko. Her blue eyes seemed to pierce through the white obstacles as she clenched her jaw. The knuckles of her hands clenching the railing had turned white. Inconspicuously, Zuko put his hand on hers. She didn't react.

"The city has become splendid, if I may say so," the captain added carefully. His words were acknowledged by the young Fire Lord when he looked up and gave a polite nod. "Thank you, captain."

The captain nodded thoughtfully, having seen the slight worry in the firebender's otherwise reserved gaze and understandingly he turned to leave.

At that moment, the ship sailed past the iceberg and the captain paused in his steps to see Zuko's eyes widen at the breathtaking sight unfolding before them.

There lay, down against a low hill, a magnificent city arose from the endless white plains of the hinterlands, glittering crystalline in the golden light of the autumn sun. Vast walls of ice surrounded the proud, fortified city. Inside those walls, countless igloos stretched out as far as the eye reached. The astonishing city was crowned with an enormous palace consisting of several large and small igloos. Two enormous pillars bridged by two waves holding the Water Tribe emblem, marked the entrance to the harbor, which was guarded by enormous statues of polar wolves glaring menacingly at every ship that sailed past them.

The Southern Water Tribe, realm of the southern waterbenders, restored to its former glory.

Silent tears ran down Katara's cheeks as she stared at the city - her city, before her. Her glistening eyes displayed the conflicting feelings of pride, sadness and happiness storming through her at the breathtaking sight.

The last time she had visited the South Pole, more than a year ago, the city had still been under construction and Appa had immediately landed in a palace courtyard. But now, she raised her eyes in silent astonishment as they sailed past the enormous polar wolves guarding the entrance to the harbor, the mainmast only reaching the wolves' withers.

Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine the city would have surpassed its former greatness and a small sob escaped her when she realized that she also never would have imagined that the city would be rebuilt without any contribution on her part.

Katara brought her hand to her lips, desperately trying to bite back the tears burning behind her eyes. Then she was distracted by a warm hand taking hers and lightly squeezing it. Not looking up, she responded to his gesture by firmly gripping his hand.

* * *

Zuko had felt quite excited for the moment when they would pass the last iceberg. The view of the capital of the Southern Water Tribe had taken his breath away. His last visit to the South Pole had been more than three years ago when he had attended the ceremony for Hakoda's inauguration as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Only parts of the city had been raised at the time, including the main building of the new Royal Palace. Above all, he remembered the unwieldy settlements consisting of tents and a scarce igloo that he'd encountered when searching for the Avatar. But now, he was struck dumb at the majestic sight of the crystalline city rising from the perpetual snow, guarded by the intimidating statues of two polar wolves flanking the entrance to the harbor. He was extremely impressed.

When he heard a muffled sound from next to him, Zuko tore his eyes from the brilliant sight before him and looked down. Katara had her gaze fixed on the city before them with her wide eyes glistening with unshed tears as she struggled to keep her emotions under control. Carefully, he took her hand to support her, a warm feeling coursing through him when she tightened her grip in response.

Thoughtfully, Zuko watched her as she stood at the railing. Despite the emotions storming through her, she held her head up high and kept her posture straight. She radiated dignity and strength as she kept her brilliant blue eyes fixed on the city ahead. She formed a magnificent view, in spite of the inconspicuous dark cloak she wore, and at that moment he realized that the last of the Water Princesses had returned to the Water Tribe.

Quietly, he retreated to the background when the captain of the Water Tribe vessel made the tradition Water Tribe bow before Katara, hands folded around each other. A solemn expression appeared on his weathered face as he said, "Welcome back to the Southern Water Tribe, Your Highness. It's an honor to bring home our Princess."

* * *

At the quay, groups of Water Tribe people had gathered as the ship entered the harbor and turned to dock. Excitedly, they pointed at Katara as they watched the vessel make port. It really was their immensely popular Princess, waterbending healing master and both savior and teacher of the Avatar, who had returned to her homelands after such a long time.

Zuko let his eyes wander over the crowd, seeing the mixture of light and dark blue parkas, which had become typical for the restored Southern Water Tribe. Many members of the Northern Water Tribe had decided to follow Master Pakku south, to build a new life in their sister tribe. They distinguished themselves by their darker, almost black hair and higher cheekbones.

The blur of blues and fur of the crowd against the background of the perfectly white city reminded Zuko of the huge crowds he was always confronted with when he went on an official visit or a working visit somewhere in the Fire Nation. Remembering Katara's reaction to the reverend welcome in the Plains Village, he hoped that Katara could cope with it.

Among the staring crowd Zuko noticed the arrival of a small group of people, wearing more refined clothes than the people surrounding them. They stared up at them even more intently.

The moment he recognized them, he noticed the elegant wave coming towards the ship. And as the crowd started to cheer, the waterbender who had been standing next to him only a second ago, was now standing on a small raft of ice carried by the water taking her to the quay. A feeling of regret tugged at his heart as she tried to hug her father, her brother, grandmother and step-grandfather all at once, his hand empty.

From his spot on board the vessel, Zuko watched the touching reunion as the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe embraced his daughter and bowed his head, accommodating her desperate sobs.

The Chief's appearance had changed since he'd become ruler of the Southern Water Tribe. Two beaded strings hung down from his dark brown hair and he wore a ceremonial parka, similar to the northern Chief Arnook. Still, Hakoda had remained the same warm, good-natured and fun loving person Zuko had first met in the now closed Fire Nation prison, the Boiling Rock. And on his first state visit last year to the Northern Water Tribe, he had recognized the difference between Hakoda and the colder, more detached northern Chief.

His eyes trailed to the Chiefess-Mother, who beckoned for her son to step back so she could welcome her granddaughter. Zuko had come to know Kanna, or Gran-Gran, as a stern but gentle person who had forgiven him a long time ago for his youthful disrespect for his elders and the near destruction of her village. The parka she wore now was still simple but refined in comparison to what she'd worn on their first encounter. Her old, wrinkled face broke into a happy smile as Katara buried her head in her Gran-Gran's shoulder, before turning to Sokka, who tried to pretend that he didn't like to be hugged, but nonetheless warmly returned his sister's embrace.

Sokka was wearing the same kind of ceremonial parka as his father and he had one blue beaded string hanging from his temple nowadays. Like Zuko had in Omashu, the Water Prince was receiving quite a bit attention from female bystanders as he stood there waiting to welcome his little sister. But, in contrast to Zuko, Sokka actually did notice their surreptitious looks and soft giggles and he winked and smiled here and there from behind Katara's back.

Zuko smiled and shook his head, thinking of the Fire Nation where an empty palace formed the background of his own loneliness. And as he watched the touching family reunion with a melancholy gaze he wished that he could see his mother walking down the broad steps of the palace entrance to welcome him, the long sleeves of her red robes fluttering as she opened her arms to hug him...

Finally, Katara untangled herself from Sokka's arms and turned to bow respectfully to her old sifu, before flinging her arms around Master Pakku as well. His stern features softened and he smiled lovingly when he returned his step-granddaughter's hug. Being married to Kanna had brought the old man from the Northern Water Tribe into the Southern Water Tribe royal family, a sole spot of dark blue amidst the light blues of his new family. Under their influence he had become a far more easy-going man than the person Katara had met at the North Pole. He had changed into a proud grandfather who had become very fond of his step-granddaughter and was held in very high esteem by the Southern Water Tribe as the person who had led the reconstruction of their city and had trained their Princess to become the powerful master waterbender she was now.

Zuko studied the old man's stern, slightly disapproving features: Master Pakku of the Southern Water Tribe, waterbending member of the Black Lotus Council. The person whose advise they needed to seek out on their journey to save the Order of the White Lotus. The person who was now flashing him a cold, hard stare, before returning his granddaughter's embrace. It left the young man's blood running cold.

Finally, Katara straightened herself and seemed slightly surprised to see the crowd cheering for her return. On their journey through the mountains of Omashu Katara had mentioned she'd liked it better when Zuko called her 'peasant,' but now, she bowed gracefully to them, not hesitating anymore like in the Plains Village. And as Zuko's heart filled with pride, he was glad that he had been able to help her find a way to finally accept who she was - whom she had always been, Zuko realized in shame. Hakoda had always been at least a village Chief and the leader of the Southern Water Tribe warriors.

Sokka then looked up and his clever eyes wandered towards the ship where Zuko still stood. "Hey Zuko!" His tenor voice rang across the harbor as he waved. "Would you come down or what?"

This shook Zuko from his thoughts and with a nod in acknowledgment he moved down the gang-plank as well, as always stared at by the Water Tribe crowd. Instantly, he heard his name buzzing around as he approached the Water Tribe Royal Family.

But Sokka ignored the bystanders as he shot the firebender an apologetic grin and clapped him on the shoulder. "Man, were we that sticky?"

Zuko gladly returned the quick embrace and pat on the shoulder from the Water Tribe Prince.

"Are you trying to grow a beard?" The firebender then noticed. He fixed his eyes on the downy hairs covering the boy's chin.

Sokka's smile brightened. "Yes! Did you notice?"

Zuko chuckled. "With a magnifying-glass."

Sokka's smile faltered.

"Anyway, what does Suki think about it?"

Sokka defiantly lifted his chin. "She's the one who suggested it. Saying it would look nice on our wedding day."

Then his expression changed to one filled with eagerness. "The messenger hawk announcing your arrival came from Kyoshi Island. You saw Suki, didn't you? You have to tell me all about her."

Zuko smiled indulgently at his love struck friend. "Of course, but let me greet your father and grandparents first."

* * *

As soon as Katara had arrived at the palace she was immediately carried away by two chambermaids, but Zuko was taken to his guestroom by Sokka.

It was a comfortable space with furs lying on the bed and the floor as well as hanging from the ceiling. Big, blue cushions lay in front of the crackling fire, which warmed the room to a pleasant temperature, without the risk of melting walls.

"I have had some of my own stuff brought over here, that you can wear," Sokka said and looked around, clearly having something else to say as he lingered in the guestroom.

Zuko had put his bag beside the bed and now removed the woolen cloak, patiently waiting for Sokka's question to come. He was beginning to suspect what direction this conversation would take.

The Water Prince shifted his weight from one leg to another and looked at him from the corner of his eye. "So... How's traveling, alone, with my sister?"

Zuko returned his gaze, a guarded expression in his own. "It's all right, I guess. Katara and I get along well enough. Why do you ask?"

He didn't need the babbling Sokka to know about how the man's sister occupied his mind more and more with each passing day. For a moment, he thought of all of those times in which she'd managed to increase his heartbeat, which he wasn't even prepared to acknowledge to himself.

"Hmm, no reason," Sokka said, obviously lying, and patted him on the shoulder dismissively. His deep blue eyes, much like his sister's, narrowed as he cast a last searching glance at Zuko, before he left him to unpack.

"Sokka." The name had escaped him before Zuko had even realized it.

Katara's older brother turned around with an expectant look in his clever, blue eyes. As a Water Tribe male he had become broader and more heavily built than Zuko but his height still matched that of the Fire Lord. The years of working as a city planner to rebuild the Southern Water Tribe capital and his responsibilities as the Crown Prince had added a more collected expression to his chiseled features.

Zuko bit his tongue and cursed his moment of weakness, but he knew he couldn't back out anymore. And part of him was actually anxious to know. "Does Hakoda approve of me and Katara traveling together?"

He tried as hard as he could to keep an indifferent expression, not wanting Sokka to see the hope he couldn't suppress. He wasn't sure if he'd pulled it off though, because Sokka smiled smugly and said, "If you want to know, you'd have to ask him yourself. But I don't see why he should have any problems with that. Unless there's something to worry about?"

Sokka didn't wait for the answer, but smiled as he quickly left the room. And Zuko watched him go, feeling confused.

* * *

It had been a long time since Katara had been this happy. She knew that she would only be here for a few days at the most and that they might leave the minute they'd spoken with her Gran-Pakku. But, it still felt as if this visit marked the ending of her aimless travels around the world, indicating that she would finally come home where she belonged. Therefore, it didn't matter she would be leaving again soon, because this journey was one with a purpose, and an ending.

It was also a journey where she finally felt useful. Something she hadn't felt since the ending of the war three years ago. The objective was simple: find Zuko's mother in order to save the Order of the White Lotus. But after traveling like an airbender for three years, it gave her a whole new perspective. And her weary heart slowly started to open up to her companion's similar mindset.

As her hair was pulled into a skillfully made, elegant bun Katara's thoughts wandered back to the moment when their ship had put in at the harbor. Zuko had seemed to notice that she was overcome by the emotions caused by her return. He had silently taken her hand, offering her the reassurance she needed so desperately at that moment.

Gratefully, she had tightened her hold on his hand and he had folded his fingers protectively around hers, casting her a comforting smile when she glanced up at him. And as the ship started to dock at the quay a disturbing but secretly exciting thought had come to mind: it had been an airbender who had showed her the world but it had taken a firebender to bring her home.

Katara stared into the enormous mirror, her own large eyes looking back at her as she was dressed in long, silk robes similar to those Princess Yue used to wear. A feeling of guilt stole over her as she thought of what she was about to do to him, make him go through again. But he had promised and Zuko was not the kind of man to go back on his word, even if she wanted him to.

She realized that the need to know had been awake ever since he had played the Tsungi Horn for her, silently asking her for her understanding. She also felt that her question had breached the last wall standing between them and she knew that his answer would change their relationship for good. In what way she couldn't fathom, but she feared it nonetheless.

However, as she turned around with the rustling sound of silk, velvet and fur, she knew that, despite the consequences, she was ready to know the final, missing parts of Zuko's life.

* * *

The largest igloo in the heart of the Southern Water Tribe Royal Palace, surrounded by countless smaller igloos, was designed to contain the grand halls in which the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe conducted his state affairs. In this part of the palace the throne room and the ballroom were located, as well as the grand hall where state banquets were held.

The banquet room was decorated with valuable furs covering the floor and refined tapestries hanging from the high, glistening ceilings, which were embroidered with brilliant shades of blue and silver thread. They shimmered in the roaring fire.

It was in this hall that Chief Hakoda had decided that his family have their dinner, in honor of the Fire Lord's visit, however mysterious his inconspicuous visit might be.

Upon his arrival with Sokka, Zuko sat down on the richly decorated cushions placed around the enormous fireplace in the middle of the room. He recognized the impressive hall, which measured up to his own banquet room back in the Fire Nation, from the time when he'd attended Hakoda's inauguration as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe.

He still remembered the ball afterwards when Katara had taught him that Water Tribe dance, a dance he secretly already knew. It was the same Water Tribe dance they'd participated in during the Plains Village's harvest festival.

He lowered his eyes to the gleaming silver plate before him as he thought back to the ball, until he got distracted by Sokka who whisperingly reminding him of his promise to tell him all about Suki.

* * *

Katara was the last to arrive at dinner. Zuko looked up from his quiet conversation with Sokka, when he heard her soft apology to her father. Then the air was knocked out of him.

During the period of time in which she had been kidnapped by her two chambermaids, Katara's appearance had changed from his inconspicuous traveling companion into a true Water Princess.

Half of her hair was gathered up and held together by a simple string of pearls woven through her gleaming curls in an intricate design. A sky blue, silk dress, embroidered with silver snowdrops, flowed from underneath a velvet parka in a darker shade of blue, hemmed with white fur.

She was breathtakingly beautiful and Zuko was completely speechless as his eyes traveled over her slender figure, which was hugged nicely by the silk dress and even her parka.

His gaze eventually crossed Katara's and as he hastily averted his gaze to his plate, she smiled awkwardly and sat down on the only remaining empty cushion next to him. Her cheeks colored in an adorable pink as, she too, fixed her gaze on the plate before her.

Closing his eyes to keep himself from taking peeks at Katara from the corner of his eye, Zuko hoped in vain that Sokka hadn't noticed his bewilderment at Katara's appearance. But the chuckle coming from his left, however, soon crushed whatever hope he had of having escaped Sokka's attention. Sokka and Agni knew who else at this round table had noticed.

He groaned inwardly, but then he also heard a chuckle to his right. His head shot up and as he turned around he drowned in a pair of glistening, blue eyes set in a tan face framed by downy white fur.

"I've never seen you wear Water Tribe clothes before," Katara explained her grin, her eyes wandering over his body. She was slightly disappointed that the parka hid so much of his well-toned figure.

The clothes were obviously Sokka's, who still had his excessive taste in clothing. Zuko wore dark blue doeskin trousers and his parka was trimmed with fur hanging off his broad shoulders. His supple, striped Fire Nation boots had also been replaced by a pair of heavier Water Tribe ones. Only his glistening golden eyes, set in pale features and his black hair, which was pulled back neatly in a Fire Nation topknot, betrayed his Fire Nation origins. They formed a strange addition to the Water Tribe outfit.

The color blue didn't look too bad on him, Katara mused for moment and she felt her heart flutter as her gaze lingered on the slight blush forming on his otherwise pale cheeks. Probably because he finally wore sufficiently warm clothing.

He cast her a questioning, slightly shy gaze, but before her cheeks reddened again, Hakoda invited everyone present to dinner.

* * *

For a little while, nobody spoke and a peaceful silence descended upon the family and Zuko as they enjoyed their dinner. Then Hakoda looked up and smiled warmly. "Katara, Zuko, would you care to tell us something about your travels so far?"

Katara and Zuko exchanged a glance before Katara hesitantly started to relate about their experiences on their way to the South Pole. Most of the time, Zuko nodded in agreement and sometimes he elaborated. To his relief, Katara excluded all of their moments together, during which they had grown closer to each other than they ever had imagined.

All the while, Master Pakku had been listening to Katara's dry enumeration of events with a skeptical look on his face. But, he had refrained from asking questions, although he clearly thought there was more to the story than what Katara shared with them.

"And so we've come to see Gran-Pakku," Katara concluded and she shot her grandfather an adorable smile. Immediately, his hard expression softened and his thin lips actually curled up in response.

At least Katara knew how to handle the grumpy, old man, Zuko thought with an inward sigh. If he were honest with himself, he didn't look forward to their confrontation with the Black Lotus Council representative, as he had always feared the waterbender a little. He still remembered the hard stare the old man had given him this afternoon.

He dared to let his gaze trail toward Katara's lovely appearance and as he took in the warm smile on her delicate features, he knew he also dreaded tonight. Tonight would be the night when he would answer to her question, eliminating the last question mark still standing between them. This would be the night when she would probably turn away from him for good. Afraid of his heritage, afraid of he who carried this heritage with him. And although he knew to expect otherwise, he still hoped with all of his heart that she wouldn't.

This was if he managed to tell her at all, which he wasn't sure he could. When playing the Tsungi Horn it had been easy enough to display his feelings through the music, but to actually tell her was something entirely different.

He had never actually told anyone.

He hadn't needed to before - everyone close to him already knew and never talked about it. The rest hadn't needed to know. But even Mai only knew about the facts and didn't care to learn more. It was something that lay in the past and she had thought it best to avoid the subject. He didn't mind, since he hadn't wanted to discuss it with her anyway.

But Katara he somehow wanted to know. Not just the facts either, but the whole story. He wanted her to know about the despair and the grief, wanted her to understand the rage and the pain. It was ugly and he was sure she wasn't prepared to confront it. He wasn't even sure if he was prepared to confront it again or if he were prepared for her reaction, for that matter. Her reaction he so desperately wanted to, but couldn't, foresee.

He knew he would have told her in the Crystal Caves if Aang hadn't burst in at the time. How he hated the boy for it back then. It had triggered him to side with Azula for the last time in his life, the vulnerable state in which Katara had left him behind making him an easy prey for his sister. And memories involving his scar forever had been set in a glowing green light.

His reaction to The Painted Lady had reminded him of the fact that he still wasn't over what had happened back then. But in the surprisingly warm feeling Water Tribe girl, he had found someone who actually listened to him, someone who shared with him the pain of missing their mothers, who had sacrificed themselves for them, Katara and Zuko. And he knew that telling her, the Water Tribe girl, would be worthwhile.

He had craved telling her ever since, though he had fought back the urge to bring up the subject himself. But when her question, which he had already anticipated back in the Ba Sing Se catacombs, finally came he decided it was time to answer it. No matter how much pain it would cause him. Still, he had asked her to wait until they had arrived at the South Pole, feeling that the stilled, frozen surroundings would have a soothing effect on his searing memory.

He saw Katara's gaze flickering toward him and he knew she thought about their upcoming conversation, too. The idea made his heart sink in his boots.

Then Master Pakku drew their attention as he pointedly cleared his throat and put down his chopsticks. "It must have been for good reason that the Grandmaster put his faith in two young people, who aren't even members of the Order of the White Lotus, for the preservation of that very Order," he said, his old voice sounding somewhat condescending. "Did you learn anything worthwhile on this journey so far?" His stern gaze wandered from golden eyes to blue ones.

Zuko and Katara looked at each other and both flushed in embarrassment as they wondered what exactly had they accomplished so far? They had been presented with a riddle they couldn't translate, had met a member of the Order who knew nothing, or so he had said, and The Painted Lady had sent them to the South Pole without so much of an explanation. Dejectedly, they both shook their heads.

But as they kept their gazes down in shame, Master Pakku's lips curled into the slightest of smiles, only to disappear behind a veil of disapproval once they chanced a glance at him.

"Well... In any case it has become clear that the Grandmaster's apprentices still have a lot to learn about perceptivity." His voice sounded cold, almost disappointed and he turned towards the Chief, who had been watching the scene with raised eyebrows. "With your permission, Kanna and I would like to retreat."

Hakoda only nodded, not averting his eyes from his daughter and the young Fire Lord, who stared at their plates with downcast gazes.

For the last time, Master Pakku turned toward the travelers as he supported Kanna as she stood up. "I had been planning on seeing you both tonight, but as it is I will leave you be for now. I expect your presence at the western courtyard tomorrow by noon. Use your time wisely."

* * *

When Iroh had finished his letter, his eyes sparkled in excitement as he leaned back in his chair and looked at the dark ceiling.

"Outstanding," he mumbled, before he picked up the letter once again to reread the characters scrupulously describing The Painted Lady's appearance in the underground Temple of the White Lotus on Kyoshi Island. Then he took his White Lotus tile from his sleeve and flipped it around. "This journey will be worthwhile, after all."

* * *

**A/N:** _And they have arrived at the South Pole! __Of course I couldn't resist dressing up Zuko in Water Tribe clothing..._ _Now that they have arrived Zuko will finally tell Katara about his past. _

_Thank you very much for all of the reviews and of course many thanks to my beta Lieta!_

_Until the next chapter, which promisses to become a very emotional one..._


	15. Confessions

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 15: Confessions**

Music: Enya, Lothlórien

* * *

Motionlessly, Sokka waited, only his blue eyes moving restlessly as he fixed his experienced gaze on the movements below the surface. He hefted his spear, the spearhead pointing towards the steel grey water. Then, quicker than the quickest waterbender, he sent his spear into the waters and withdrew almost the same instant. The little canoe shook dangerously.

A satisfied grin appeared on his tan features when the ocean revealed the big fish he'd just caught. The goofy expression didn't waver as he threw the fish with the others in the basket and decided it enough. He sat down and took the oars.

Although his current position didn't require him to go fishing or hunting, Sokka went out in his canoe on a regular basis and often surprised the cook with his catch. The short trips to sea gave him a sense of freedom, reminiscent of the simple life he used to live before he and Katara had left the South Pole to travel the world with Team Avatar.

While Katara had become fed up with the never-ending travels, Sokka sometimes wished he could go on a journey like that again. He felt somewhat envious of Zuko, who seemed be enjoying his break from the responsibilities that held him hostage for the past three years.

Sokka looked up at the sky. Winter was approaching at a fast pace and soon the harbor would be freezing over. When that happened, the harbor would be inaccessible for at least a few months until the arrival of spring. Katara and Zuko would have to continue on their mysterious journey as soon as possible or they would be trapped in the Southern Water Tribe for months.

While he was looking forward to seeing his little sister again, he silently hoped that she would look somewhat healthier than the last time he'd seen her. She had been so weary, so pale back then. But judging from the letters that had arrived by messenger hawk hours ago, it seemed that she was. He would be very grateful if it proved true.

Master Pakku however, was less pleased with Katara's new objectives. Sokka noticed this when he witnessed the reluctance with which the old man had taken notice of the message.

Focused as Master Pakku was on his granddaughter's well being, he had actually been the first of their family to notice Katara's increasing suffering caused by the never-ending travels with the Avatar. And as her step-grandfather and sifu it had worried him.

But the alternative quest and companion presented to him by the Grandmaster of his Order didn't seem to appeal to the protective grandfather either. With Zuko's background, he wasn't at all sure if Katara was better off undertaking this journey with this young man than traveling with the Avatar. It had the rigid waterbender silently questioning the Grandmaster's sanity, or at least lack of judgment, when it came to his precious nephew.

* * *

With a thoughtful expression on his face, Sokka steadily rowed back as evening fell over the South Pole, the mainland glittering silver in the light of the rising moon.

He knew that Katara's weariness had something to do with Aang and his never-ending need for traveling. Sokka had been the first to acknowledge Aang's crush on Katara a long time ago. But he'd never been happy with how the relationship between his sister and the Avatar had developed, being witness to Katara's confusion about her caring, motherly feelings for Aang and Aang's almost obsessive admiration for her. Sokka had tried to suppress his discomfort though, as he kept telling himself that Katara had to make her own choices and that she knew best if she would be happy with whom she'd chosen. As had everyone around him. Except for Zuko.

Of all their friends, only Zuko had had the courage to ignore the false smiles she put up, confronting her with his thoughts on her behavior and worries about her health. He and Master Pakku.

Sokka had actually known there was still some kind of bond between the Fire Lord and his sister, that was rooted in the early stages of their travels, when they had been on their way to the North Pole. Since their horrible first meeting, Katara's mind always had always been extremely tuned to Zuko's every movement. Even back then there was always a certain caution and relative calm with which Zuko had approached Sokka's sister. Maybe that was why she had been the only one not to condemn him for his actions. Not until that thing happened in Ba Sing Se.

Sokka had never known what exactly had taken place in the Crystal Caves underneath Lake Laogai but he did know that it had affected both Zuko and Katara a great deal. He believed it had ultimately led Zuko to his decision to join the Avatar, while Katara had needed a lot of time to restore her shaken trust in people. To restore her trust in the remorseful Fire Prince for whom she'd developed a fierce hatred. Hatred Sokka had never really understood.

But, when the time had come for her and Zuko to find the one who had killed Sokka and Katara's mother, she had somehow put those all consuming feelings to rest. Finally, to Sokka's astonishment, Zuko had saved Katara in a way he had never expected, even from Aang, by throwing himself between Azula's lightening and Katara. And Sokka's sister returned the favor by healing the Fire Prince.

Sokka tied his canoe to a dolphin, swung his basket over his shoulder and headed for the Royal Palace up the hill, waving his way through the groups of people greeting him. Tomorrow night, Sokka would speak with his sister, as had been requested in the private message which had accompanied the official letter for Master Pakku.

He grinned as he thought about the last line in the letter, which now rested on his heart. 'He tied her to a tree, too.'

* * *

Kanna smiled reassuringly at her granddaughter to ease her husband's sharp words, before she and Master Pakku retreated and Katara stood up as well. Gracefully, she walked over to her father and pressed a kiss on his dark brown hair. "I'm going to bed too, dad. It's been a long voyage from Kyoshi Island."

She straightened and her eyes met with Zuko's. He didn't avert his gaze until she did, acknowledging the message in them. She would be waiting for him.

His heart sped up as nervousness overtook him, his hands started to shake slightly when he put down his chopsticks. A sudden fear for the upcoming conversation created a lump in his throat. Would she shy away from him when she found out about the magnitude of his family's lunacy? Would she become frightened of him, too? And why did he care so much?

His eyes wandered from Hakoda to Sokka, hoping that they didn't notice anything unusual about Katara's early retreat. But he merely saw confusion about Master Pakku's words written on the face of the first, while the second stared after his sister with a thoughtful and slightly relieved expression in his eyes.

After Katara had left, Zuko waited for a few minutes to not draw any more attention to them than Master Pakku had already done. Then he rose from his seat too, mentally readying himself to face her.

But to his surprise, Sokka suddenly stood up as well and retreated with quick strides, only waving a goodnight to his father. Zuko blinked in bewilderment, momentarily distracted from his tension as he watched Sokka disappear. The heavy wooden doors made a dull sound when they closed behind the Water Prince.

Composing himself, Zuko closed his eyes and bowed towards the Chief, meaning to follow Sokka's example.

He had managed to pass Katara's father, who hadn't moved, when a deep voice quietly called him back. "Zuko."

He cringed and turned around, quickly rearranging his features to face the Water Tribe Chief. But Hakoda had not turned around. "Can you sit down for a moment, please?"

Zuko furrowed his brow and groaned inwardly. Then his question to Sokka earlier this day shot through his mind. 'Does Hakoda approve of me and Katara traveling together?'

His eyes widened in shock and he mentally slapped himself for not holding his tongue. Now he had to confront an irate father telling him to keep his distance from his daughter.

Reluctantly, he returned to the dinner table, knowing that Katara had to wait a little longer. He hoped that she wasn't put off too much, but he somehow suspected that Sokka had already let her know about the delay. This certainly reeked of a set up.

"Of course, Hakoda." No need for formalities with only the two of them present.

His heart was in his throat when he took his place where Kanna had been sitting earlier and looked at Hakoda, his golden eyes barely hiding his discomfort.

But the Water Tribe Chief's expression wasn't as menacing as he'd expected. He merely searched the young man's features with a thoughtful gaze, ignoring the awkwardness written on them. Then he sighed and averted his eyes to his plate.

"Zuko, it seems that Master Pakku has more knowledge about this quest of yours than he shows. Do you have any idea about what Master Pakku was talking about just now? It seems to me it has something to do with Katara retreating to bed so early."

He looked at him from the corner of his eye. "Is there something you need to tell me, Zuko?"

A surge of panic went through Zuko and his face paled. What had Sokka said in answer to this cursed question of his? 'Unless there's something to worry about.'

Was something to worry about? Something a father would like to know? He swallowed with difficulty as Hakoda patiently, almost sympathetically awaited his answer.

Zuko lowered his gaze and as he looked at his hands, horror, guilt and resentment stormed through him. Desperately, he tried to come up with a reply that would reassure a protective father but couldn't think of anything. He was the Fire Lord and had more than three years experience as the ruler of what was still the most powerful of the three nations. But at the moment, he was only a young man of less than twenty years who was called to account by a worried father.

Finally, he mustered the courage to raise his eyes to Hakoda and was struck dumb when he met with the older man's gaze. His blue eyes were wary, but not unfriendly, as he studied the young firebender. However, his features also radiated kindness and above all sympathy.

Zuko opened his mouth then closed it again as something clicked in his mind. He realized that Hakoda, first and foremost, was a father, a loving father, who hadn't detained him to question him on his behavior towards his daughter. Instead, he was merely reaching out to him, putting him at level with his own children, out of concern for those very children.

Upon this realization, Zuko felt a new lump form in his throat. Despite his love for his nephew, Uncle Iroh had always been more of a mentor or a grandfather to him. Being treated like a son by Hakoda was something that completely caught him off guard, but at the same time filled him with a warm feeling that spread through his stomach.

Zuko swallowed and, as he felt the tension leave his body, he answered honestly, "You don't have to worry about the assignment my uncle has given us, sir. Although I don't know how Master Pakku came to know about it, Katara only retreated early, because I've promised her to tell her the story of my scar tonight."

Hakoda's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly recovered and said calmly, "You mean, you haven't already told her about that?"

Zuko shook his head. He felt vulnerable all of a sudden, but drew comfort from Hakoda's quiet sympathy.

"I would have, but the... opportunity passed and she never asked about it. It's not something I bring up easily by myself, either," he confessed quietly.

Hakoda nodded thoughtfully. "I can understand. But you must also understand that you can trust Katara. I see she trusts in you a great deal."

Hakoda's words seemed to echo through the grand hall as Zuko's eyes widened and his heart unwillingly skipped a beat. Then the corners of his mouth curled up irrepressibly in a smile. She trusted in him. This was the reason why had reached out to her so many times.

But at the same time he felt a cold fear seep into his heart, all at once scared that he would lose that trust. Not again. He bowed his head.

"Zuko," Hakoda said seriously, pulling him from thoughts, "the reason I detained you is that I want you to know, that if you ever want to talk to me about anything, you're always welcome."

Zuko opened his mouth and closed it again as he stared at the older man's kind features, a feeling of immense gratitude washing over him. He had been offered a place among Hakoda's own children. The warm feeling in his stomach returned and Hakoda saw his face light up in a way he'd never witnessed with the young man before. He nodded understandingly.

"Thank you, sir," Zuko finally responded quietly. "I certainly will."

He rose from his seat and bowed to the Water Tribe Chief, his hands folded over each other. For the first time in his life he used the Water Tribe style bow, in honor of Hakoda.

A small smile tugged at Hakoda's lips as the young man disappeared through the carved wooden doors.

* * *

Katara jumped up in surprise when she heard a modest knock on her door. The book she had been reading dropped on the floor as she quickly went to open the door. "Come in... Sokka? Oh!"

Sokka chuckled. "Expecting someone else?"

He stepped past his sister and politely averted his gaze to give her time to regain her composure. "Zuko will be late. Dad detained him," he remarked casually.

"Oh, why would he do that?" Katara asked quietly, rushing to pick up her book from the ground, but Sokka was ahead of her.

"The Tale of Two Lovers?" He said, holding the book between thumb and forefinger as if it was contagious.

Katara lunged forward. "Give it back Sokka, you're not funny!"

To her horror, she blushed again, a deep crimson this time.

Sokka laughed. "I didn't even know you liked that story so much. When did you get that book?"

Katara shrugged, not even trying to jump for the book, which now hung in the air, high above Sokka's head and out of her reach. "First Avatar Day in Ba Sing Se, I think. I left it here last year."

She turned away her head, chin stubbornly stuck in the air as Sokka lowered the book and looked at the front. It was a picture of two people, a man and a woman, each standing on a mountain, staring at each other. One clad in blue and one clad in red.

He looked up at Katara's dismayed features. She had had a chance to change from her heavy formal robes to a comfortable night blue, silk housedress, which made her look like a northern woman. It was probably a gift from Master Pakku.

Sokka's gaze wandered back to the picture of Oma and Shu again and fixed on the blue and the red, as he thought back of the moment when the Water Tribe ship with Zuko and Katara on board put in at the harbor. He remembered that he had been surprised by the closeness between Zuko and Katara when he saw them standing at the railing, waiting for their ship to get docked. Two figures in inconspicuous dark cloaks, one broad and tall and the other smaller, completely in tune with each other without realizing it. For a moment, it had seemed to Sokka as if his sister had come home to present her fiancé to her people.

During the short walk to the palace he'd noticed Zuko's attention for Katara as he took her by the arm to prevent her from falling on the slippery streets, while he himself had far more trouble staying upright on his ill profiled, summer boots. And he'd noticed the soft gaze Katara had given the Fire Nation man before she had been taken away by the maids. She had seemed healthy and free of worry, as Sokka had wished for yesterday. And he had felt relief fill his heart.

Sokka put aside the book. "You look good, Katara," he said and Katara looked up, surprised at the sudden tenderness in his sonorous voice.

She smiled a small smile. "Thanks, I guess."

Sokka took a seat on one of the many silk cushions lying before the fire. He looked up at his little sister and motioned for her to follow his example. "I received a letter from Suki today. She wrote that you and Zuko were on Kyoshi Island to find the next clue on your quest."

Katara slowly sat down next to him. "I can't tell you anything about that, Sokka. It's an Order secret."

He nodded absentmindedly, remaining silent, not knowing how to continue.

But it seemed as if Katara had decided to help him, because she said softly, "Sokka, what was it like, when... when you'd lost Princess Yue and then met Suki again?"

The question touched him more than he'd expected. Sokka jerked up his head and turned to look at his sister. But she did not avert her eyes from the flickering flames, confusion written on her gold-lit face as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

Sokka sighed and his eyes darkened. Though this was necessary, it didn't mean it was easy. "Losing Yue was the most terrible thing that ever happened to me, besides losing mom. You know how much I loved her. But I've come to peace with that, because I knew her that sacrifice was needed to save the world. It had been written in the stars all along. Now I'm just glad she went with the knowledge that someone truly loved her and didn't see her as only a political convenience."

Katara knew he was thinking about Hahn as she saw him scowl from the corner of her eye.

"But still," he continued softly, "as much as I loved and still love Yue, Suki completes me in a way I had never expected to find after Yue."

A silence descended upon them until Katara said, "I saw Yue when we'd just started our journey."

Sokka flinched, his eyes widened in shock, as he looked at his little sister, who rested her chin on her knees. "Really?" His voice was barely more than a whisper and Katara nodded vaguely.

"She came to lead the way and she said... she said, she made her sacrifice to save the world and... that's she's happy you've found someone who balances you perfectly."

Sokka closed his eyes and let his head sink. After a moment, which seemed to continue endlessly to Katara, he said, "You don't know how glad I am you told me this."

Utter relief and gratitude spoke from his chiseled features as he wrapped his arm around his sister, pulling her into a warm hug.

She responded to it gladly, burying herself into his strong arms like she used to do, when they were little.

Then she said softly, "Sokka, it seemed like she said those words specifically to me. As if she wanted me to understand something."

At first, Sokka didn't react as he looked over her brown curls and fixed his eyes on a tapestry on the wall. The truth had to be told, but he had to choose his words carefully. He kept his arms in place as he inhaled quietly. "If you want my opinion on the matter, I think that Yue wanted you to think carefully about your relationship with Aang. How you and Aang balance each other."

For a moment, neither of them moved as his words trailed away. Then Katara sighed dejectedly and whispered, "I was afraid you would say that."

Sokka tightened his grip reassuringly on his sister and sighed too. "I know it's hard for you, Katara, but think about it. Can you really live like you have for the last three years for the rest of your life? Because…" for a moment, he faltered. Then he finished in a softer tone, "because I don't think you can."

The words hung in the air as Katara bowed her head. All of the despondency and fatigue she'd felt before she'd started this journey with Zuko returned with great intensity as Sokka voiced his concern. The realization that even her family had become worried about her well-being hit her like a sledgehammer. It hurt now to remember the relieved look with which Suki had surveyed her when they'd arrived on Kyoshi Island.

"The traveling is wearing you out," Sokka then continued quietly. "We're worried about you."

She'd been fighting this moment for a long time now. The moment in which she had to admit to her family that she wasn't feeling well because she didn't want them to worry about her. But now that Sokka had finally, hesitantly, touched upon the subject, a leaden burden seemed to lift from her shoulders. The shame she felt over having her family worry about her was far exceeded by the feeling of relief that coursed through her as she realized that she was done reassuring them.

Katara closed her eyes. "I know."

"Then again," Sokka glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "I can't help but noticing that your present journey is doing you good."

This drew a small smile to his sister's lips and Sokka's heart felt somewhat lighter. Then he frowned and said, "I also think that Aang is destined to make a sacrifice similar to Yue's as well. He momentarily escaped the inevitable when his scar hit that stone during his fight with Fire Lord Ozai, but he still has to face the opening of his last chakra, as the Guru explained to him."

"I know," Katara whispered, "and the most horrifying thing is I'm starting to believe we're not the ones destined to be together and I don't know if I… regret that."

She trembled as she forced herself to put her long harbored doubts into words.

"Katara..." Sokka lowered his voice as he sensed the magnitude of her confession. "Have you never wondered why it was that a stone, a rock, triggered Aang going into the Avatar State? A rock, out of all the elements, was the only one to unlock the seventh chakra? A chakra he supposedly could only unlock when he let go of his earthly attachments?"

Sokka watched his sister intently as realization slowly dawned on her. The shock forced her to sit up straight and turn to look at him at last. Only one word came to her lips. "Toph."

A soft knock made them both look up.

"Katara?" A husky voice sounded hesitantly from the other side of the door.

Katara stood up and made to head for the door, but was stopped by Sokka taking her arm. "Katara, wait."

For a moment his gaze bore into hers and Katara froze under the scrutiny. "Just... I'm curious to see how much you really like The Tale Of Two Lovers."

A second knock, more urgent now, gave Katara the opportunity to turn away and hide her shock and Sokka smiled his goofy smile. "I think it's time to let Zuko in, don't you think, before he breaks through that door."

* * *

Zuko looked up in surprise when both Katara and Sokka answered the door. But before he could ask, Sokka smiled encouragingly at him and slipped past him, punching his arm like Toph did in the process. Then he turned around and walked away, the sound of his heavy boots quickly fading in the large, icy corridors.

Zuko quietly closed the door behind him and turned around. He had never been in Katara's personal chambers and what he saw rooted him to his spot, looking around the spacious room in awe.

Although his own guest room was comfortable enough, Katara's room showed her own personal touch, a Water Tribe style influenced by her travels over the world. This was the only place Katara really could call home, her sanctuary. And it was beautiful.

The sitting room breathed elegance and refinement without being too luxurious or overdone. Only one white fur decorated the north wall and several tapestries in all shades of blue and silver decorated the other ones. A small window was hidden behind a gossamer curtain and the large fireplace in the middle of the room was surrounded by soft furs. There were also many embroidered cushions around the room in brilliant colors that betrayed their Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation origins. A low, antique table, more typical for the Fire Nation, stood by the small window. Several candles burned in graceful silver candleholders and a silk curtain with cherry blossoms delicately painted on it, obviously from Kyoshi Island, separated the sitting room from the bedroom.

Katara felt a little awkward, confused by the intense interest with which Zuko took in the atmosphere in her chambers. Unexpectedly, she felt exposed as the entire room – a sweet and flowery style combined with an elegant taste for foreign decorations - told the tale of her personality. She suddenly regretted not talking to him in his impersonal guest room.

Zuko seemed comfortable enough though, she noticed as he sat down by the fire, wearing a slight smile on his face. Secretly, Katara let out a sigh, trying to hide her embarrassment as she followed his example.

As he stared into the fire, Zuko mused that there couldn't be a better place to tell Katara the most difficult part of his life story, than here in her own room. The gentle atmosphere contributed even more to the feeling of peacefulness he always felt when with her. His overworked nerves were calmed down by all cool blues around him - so Water Tribe, so her – while at the same time the Fire Nation elements made him feel strangely accepted. Carefully, he touched the silk, red cushion embroidered with fire lilies lying next to him. He looked up when Katara presented him with a silver cup filled with steaming tea before picking up her own.

"I thought we might need some tea," she said, her eyes displaying a small smile when meeting his. The fire played along her tan features, highlighting her cheekbones and brilliant blue eyes. They seemed to darken to a mysterious night blue, like the beautiful dress she wore now. She had freed her gleaming curls from the intricate hairdo and they were now cascading down her shoulders. Only a few pearls glowed softly in her characteristic hair loopies.

Zuko had been astonished when she entered the dining hall, but he found the way she looked now simply breathtaking and for a moment he forgot why he was there in the first place.

"You look nice," he said quietly, not covering half of what he really felt, but he was glad to see her face light up in a flattered smile. Hesitantly, he smiled back.

But then, his expression turned serious and he averted his gaze to the fire. It couldn't be postponed any longer.

He took a sip from his tea and took a deep breath. "Before I start, I want to ask you not to feel sorry for me. I came to terms with this a long time ago, but I feel you have the right to know nonetheless. I would have told you back then, if..." his voice trailed away and Katara knew he was talking about the Crystal Caves underneath Ba Sing Se now.

Cautiously, she placed her hand on his. "I know you don't want pity," she said seriously, "but just as I told you about my mother back then, you offered not pity, but understanding. I hope to offer you the same."

Her thumb lightly rubbed the back of his hand, before she pulled back. He missed the feeling instantly.

Closing his eyes, Zuko wrapped his hands around his teacup and said, "The most complete explanation I could give you is if I start with my mother's disappearance. You know that my father is Fire Lord Azulon's second son. Initially, my uncle was next in line for the throne and although he had lost his wife before I was even born, he had a son, my cousin Lu Ten, who was the hereditary prince.

"Fire Lord Azulon, who had been continuing the conquest Fire Lord Sozin had started, decided at one point that it was time to overthrow the impenetrable city of Ba Sing Se and sent uncle Iroh and Lu Ten to war. I was sad, because my father had despised me from the moment I was born and it had been Uncle Iroh who had drawn me into Lu Ten's upbringing as well.

"One of my very first memories was of a time at the beach on Ember Island when I was barely three years old and my uncle played with me, throwing me into the air and catching me again, with Lu Ten laughing and building sand castles at his feet."

A soft smile passed over his face and Katara watched him intently as he relived the clearly happy memory. It was still rare to see Zuko smile and she always felt her heart melt when his face lit up like that.

Zuko's husky voice continued, pulling her from her musings. "Of course even the Dragon of the West couldn't overthrow the mighty walls of Ba Sing Se and several years passed before we received a devastating message: cousin Lu Ten had been killed before the walls of Ba Sing Se. My uncle, raging with sadness, had left the battlefield instantly, only to return after a long period of time. Later on, I learned that he'd visited the Spirit World."

"Iroh has visited the Spirit World?" Katara gasped. "How is that possible?"

Zuko shook his head. "I don't know, he would never tell me about it. But I bet it's the reason for all those spirits popping up every now and then to guide us." He smiled sheepishly. "After Uncle and Lu Ten left for Ba Sing Se I got even closer to my mother, who always stayed a little worried about my apparent unwillingness to associate with my sister and her friends. My little circle had always been limited to my mother, my uncle and my cousin. Azula and my father remained outside of that circle, trying to make my life miserable. And although it always hurt to be rejected by my father, I didn't seek his approval as much as later, knowing that my uncle approved of me. Once he was gone, I turned towards my mother completely."

For a moment, his gaze crossed Katara's, when he began to talk about his mother. Their gazes locked as they both thought back to the moment in the Crystal Caves, when they'd forged a hesitant bond over the loss of their mothers.

Zuko wondered vaguely how much he should tell Katara about his mother and her heritage right now as he looked into her gentle, blue eyes. But, he immediately decided now was not the time, as he knew how much he already had to tell her without this specific piece of information.

"One day," he continued relating his story, "my mother came for Azula and me. It appeared we had to attend an audience with the Fire Lord. During that audience, Azula showed some of her new firebending moves and I didn't want to stay behind, so I tried as well. I failed miserably of course." He smiled wryly at the memory.

"Although I didn't understand the underlying meaning of the words being said at the time, my father had requested that audience to persuade the Fire Lord to renounce Uncle's birthright and make him the Fire Lord's successor, as he was in possession of two healthy children. Finally, we were sent away and my father had to stay behind with Fire Lord Azulon. But, Azula immediately hid behind a curtain to listen in on the conversation. She tried to pull me along, but I was much too afraid to stay and ran away.

"Later that evening, Azula came to my room to taunt me. She said that my father was going to kill me. It was his punishment for trying to profit from Uncle's loss and she already knew my father was only too happy to oblige."

As Zuko's voice trailed away, he awaited Katara's reaction in fear. He knew that the notion of a father gladly killing his own son was incomprehensible in her world. Not with father figures like Hakoda and Bato surrounding her.

Now had come the first moment for her to decide: whether she would turn away from him and his past or not. His heart was beating erratically as Katara's eyes widened in horror and she put her hand over her open mouth.

She paled and for a moment she didn't move, then the color came back to her cheeks and her eyes burned with an emotion he only seconds later recognized as sheer anger. But her anger wasn't directed at him, he understood after an agonizing split second before she put her hand to his knee. He let go of a breath he didn't know he had been holding as relief washed over him. She hadn't abandoned him yet.

"Because Azula was bragging about what she'd heard in the throne room, she caught my mother's attention," Zuko continued quietly. "Mother forced Azula to tell her everything. After that everything becomes blurry. I remember going to sleep, only to be woken up by my mother in the middle of the night." He shook his head in agony at the vague memory.

"She had returned, wearing a travel cloak and she put something on my nightstand. Then, she told me that what she had done, she had done to protect me. She also said that I should never forget who I was and that she loved me."

He looked into the fire with an empty gaze, not fighting the tear that silently rolled down his cheek from his good eye. "Then, she was gone I never saw her again."

He drew in a trembling breath and continued in a soft tone, "The worst thing is, that I was still half asleep when she woke me, so I don't remember half of her goodbye. The next day I woke up with the message that my grandfather had died overnight and had designated my father as his successor. And I discovered that the object she'd put on my nightstand was my ivory dagger. For a very long time, I tried not to imagine the possible meaning behind her putting back the dagger, but I think you can understand what she did to protect me…"

Zuko fixed his gaze on the flames before him, not daring to look Katara in the eye. Despite the old grief overtaking his thoughts, his heart hammered in his chest.

Katara had listened motionlessly to his story, unable to hide the horror she felt. "I… I think I can," she whispered quietly before she shook her head with unexpected fierceness. Then she turned toward him.

"Your mother saved your life like my mother saved mine," she said hoarsely, her own emotions threatening to take over now. She never thought that the way Zuko was separated from his mother would be so similar to her own experience. "By doing what she could do."

She stretched out a hand and lightly wiped the tear from his cheek. The gentle feeling of her hand brushing his skin pulled Zuko from his thoughts and he absentmindedly took a sip from his tea. Thoughtfully, he watched the golden liquid as he shook his cup a little.

"The dagger my mother put on my nightstand that night was a gift from my uncle," he elaborated. "It had belonged to an Earth Kingdom general from Ba Sing Se who had surrendered to him."

He shot Katara a glance as he reached into the pocket of his parka and pulled out the dagger. It was the first time he had shown it to her. He hadn't dared to try to give it to Lee again, although the boy might well have accepted it now.

Katara carefully took over the dagger. "Never give up without a fight," she mumbled, letting her fingers glide over the smooth ivory. Then she looked up, her eyes boring into his. "That's it, isn't it? It's who you are. You never give up without a fight."

"It has made me who I am, although nowadays I would like to think of fighting in the broader sense of the word, trying to do good..." He sighed because he didn't know if he dared to fight the most important fight in his life. His gaze met hers and for a moment it seemed like she was thinking the same thing, but she bowed her head and gave him back the dagger.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, knowing it held as much meaning to him as her mother's necklace to her.

Zuko quietly put away the dagger and took another sip from his tea as he averted his gaze to the fire.

"When my mother had left, my father led me to believe that my mother was dead," he added softly. "It wasn't until the day of Black Sun that I finally learned about her banishment. On that day my father finally decided me to tell me that there was still a possibility that she was alive and that she had been banished 'for treacherous reasons'," he repeated the words from his memory.

"It isn't true," Katara whispered in utter astonishment but when Zuko only looked at her sadly, she balled her fists. "Such cruelty."

"I was eleven years old when it happened," he continued. "Three years passed and nothing really changed. I was a lousy firebender with a prodigy for a sister, but with a growing eagerness to prove my worth to my father. In the mean time, my uncle had returned from whatever he had been doing and without a word had settled in his new role as a general."

He shook his head. "My uncle tried to spend as much time with me as possible. Maybe it sounds strange, but even as a little boy I had the feeling that he had a double agenda. He tried to keep me away from my father and sister and teach me about... about the other nations. Very carefully, but still. I guess he was already a member of the Order of the White Lotus back then and he never ceased to give me lessons about the balance between the four nations, but it became more blatant and urgent during those years at sea.

"I wasn't interested in being kept away from my father and sister, though. My mother's disappearance had left me adrift and my only focus became proving myself to my father, knowing that he had been moments away from killing me. I now recognize it was survival. I was surviving in a world that was thoroughly hostile towards my existence, but while my uncle tried to keep me safe by holding me back from my father, I only wanted to face him. Please him.

"Then, the day of the war meeting came. I was thirteen years old and trying to get into the war room. I saw my uncle and persuaded him into letting me come with him. I felt like I belonged in that room, being the heir to the throne and all." His voice sounded disgusted when he said it.

"My uncle gave in," he continued softly as an ashen fatigue passed over his features, "but under the sole condition that I would keep my mouth shut."

He drew in a deep breath. "In the war room, the generals were discussing new strategies to overthrow Ba Sing Se. An old general then suggested that they put fresh non-bending recruits, barely older than me, in front to distract the earthbenders. After which the experienced soldiers could attack. It would mean certain death for the new recruits. I spoke up."

His last words lingered in the air and Katara felt her stomach churn, as she understood the meaning behind his words: Zuko had been punished for defending innocent lives. But how...?

"My punishment for speaking up in the war room without permission was an Agni Kai," Zuko continued with difficulty as pain and a little panic crept into his voice. He didn't notice Katara's dismayed gasp as his hand went to his stomach and his breathing became ragged. "I readied myself, thinking that I would be fighting the old general."

The agonizing pain of the tortured memories flared up inside him, choking his voice. 'No, I need to tell her, I need to continue,' he thought frantically as he fought against the growing panic. His vision started to blur as he turned towards Katara, feeling somewhere inside that seeing her features would calm him down. Then the agony retreated.

* * *

Katara had been watching with increasing worry as his face drained of every emotion and his voice became flat, sounding strangely detached as he spoke. His consciousness had left his body to enable him to finish the story.

"How wrong I was. By speaking up in the Fire Lord's war room I had offended the Fire Lord himself. The Agni Kai therefore was between me and the Fire Lord."

The memory of Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai pushed to the forefront of Katara's mind and she gasped. The whole concept of an Agni Kai in itself was already cruel enough, but to force a thirteen-year-old boy to face the most powerful firebender in the world, to face his own father, was beyond everything she could imagine.

"No," she whispered, but Zuko didn't react anymore.

"The Agni Kai was being held in an arena full of nobility, high ranking officers and other high placed Fire Nation citizens. When I turned around and saw my father standing there, I was shocked at first. Then I crumbled to the ground, begging him for forgiveness. But he said I had been talking out of order and therefore needed to be taught a lesson. I begged him and said I didn't want to fight him. I guess that frustrated him. He called me a coward, yelling at me to stand up. But I wouldn't. Then I saw a ball of fire coming my way."

He swallowed thickly, staring into the fire with unseeing eyes. "The scar on my face actually shows my father's extraordinary skill in firebending," he remarked on a cold tone, disconnected from the horror behind the words. "If he had been any other firebender I would have lost my eyesight and hearing completely. But, my father only wanted to teach me a lesson.

"I felt something hit my eye and I tried to back away, but it was too late. The thing that hit my eye found its way to my ear and I fell. The pain was... excruciating, unimaginable and I shut my eyes to protect them from the burning sensation eating its way through my flesh. The pain only subsided when everything else around me started to subside, though. The last thing I heard was my uncle yelling my name in utter panic, which hurt more than the ball of fire itself and my sister snickering something. Then, I passed out."

Katara had clamped her hand before her mouth as silent tears streamed down her cheeks. This couldn't be, this was beyond everything she'd ever expected. An angered general, an accident, maybe even a fight with Azula which had gotten out of hand, but this…

Then, the breath was knocked out of her as she remembered the Crystal Caves of Ba Sing Se. His despair, her words, and his ultimate trust in her. Her hand touching his scar, the cool sensation apparently calming his memories. And somehow Katara knew she had been the first and only one to touch his face that way.

"No, no, no," she whispered and a wave of nausea washed over her as her stomach turned. She wrapped her arms around her body and squeezed shut her eyes, bowing her head in agony.

'This is water from the Spirit Oasis. It has healing powers...'

What had she done to him? A sob escaped her lips as she finally realized the full extent of his actions back then, realized the reason why he had ultimately betrayed her underneath Lake Laogai. In the end, it had been she who had betrayed him as she'd followed Aang outside and left him standing there, belying the first time he'd ever put his trust in someone else than his uncle.

But, at the Western Air Temple it had been he who had sought out her forgiveness, full of remorse from his actions, instead of the other way around. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she was overwhelmed by feelings of shame and guilt. Holding onto her stomach, she let her head hang and cried bitter tears for her stubbornness, her implacable attitude but above all: her stupidity. Because somewhere inside she'd known all along that how much the events in the Crystal Caves had hurt him. She had known the moment she'd cast a last look over her shoulder and had seen the expression on his face. And she'd chosen to ignore it, blaming it all on him, to make her feel better about herself. It was a horrible realization.

Several minutes passed by as Katara calmed down. Then it finally got through to her that Zuko hadn't said anything since he'd told her about the Agni Kai. She looked up, her blurry vision registering that Zuko still sat completely still, his eyes absent. Slowly, the nausea subsided, replaced by panic.

"Zuko," she whispered.

* * *

Zuko's limbs felt numb and his breathing had become shallow, as his hoarse voice had finally failed on him. He had retreated to where pain couldn't reach him.

With the passing of the years, he had hoped that talking about this subject would have become easier, but he guessed he was wrong. The only thing he knew was that staring into the dancing flames, like a meditation, numbed his mind. His eyes barely blinked anymore, as he tried to forget about the agony he felt.

That's when he felt two slender arms, cool to the touch, slide around him.

"Zuko," a voice said nearby, softly, soothing but with a hint of anxiousness. It smashed into the wall he'd constructed around himself. "Zuko, it's all right."

He felt that he was pulled into a soft body. A hand was placed on his head, pushing him down to a silk clad shoulder.

"Zuko, it's all right. I'm here. You're safe. Come back." The voice struggled to remain calm but a sob escaped from the body his head rested on.

_A sob? _

"Come back, Zuko. Please..." The hand began to trace circles on his back and he felt something wet fall down his neck.

_Tears?_

Then, he inhaled and with it took in the sweet but fresh smell of water lilies.

_Water lilies. _

Cracks began to form.

_Loving arms around him. _

The walls started to crumble.

_His scarred cheek pressed against smooth silk._

He hesitantly heaved his arms and the grip on him tightened. "Come back to me, Zuko. It's me, Katara," the lovely voice begged him.

_Katara. _

He broke to pieces.

* * *

**A/N:** _I want to thank everyone who has reviewed the previous chapter. I'm really glad with every one of them._

_This is the long awaited talk between Zuko and Katara about his scar and a long chapter it has become! I am sorry about that but I had a lot to tell in this one. I hoped I pulled it off. I also want to thank by beta Lieta for her sympathy for Zuko._

_The music is from the 1991 album Shepherd Moons by Enya._

_Also, Merry Christmas to everyone! And for all of you who want to know how and when the story continues: I will be updating this story in the weekend after Christmas with a chapter called Rocking Chair._


	16. Rocking Chair

**Happy New Year everyone!**

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 16: Rocking Chair**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Love & Loss (no synth)

* * *

He was rocking. Back. Forth. Back again.

It was a gentle, comforting feeling and drowsiness slowly took over as his body obediently swayed to the external force. Somewhere in the back of his head he knew that there was a world outside the rocking movement, but all he wanted, needed, right now was to stay in this moment. Experience nothing more than the arms holding him, the soft voice whispering soothing words he couldn't understand. He wanted to forget about time and pain in the repetitive movement that controlled and dulled his senses.

From the utter darkness of despair, a long forgotten memory drifted to the surface of his conscience. His mother sitting in a rocking chair, her eyes closed, as she hummed a sweet lullaby. She seemed to glow in the afternoon sun shining down on her and she wore a slight smile as she cradled her little boy, him, in her arms. The strands of her silky black hair brushed the delicate skin of his youthful face as she leaned over her toddler to press a kiss on his forehead, his head resting on her upper arm.

Back and forth. Ever the same movement, never ceasing as he was captured in a still moment, meant to last forever.

Slowly, the memory of his mother started to merge with the gentle sway as the hues of gold and red coloring the background of his memory slowly shifted to calming blues and silvers. The musky scent of fire lilies faded into the fresh scent of water lilies and the silky strands gently brushing his cheek changed into soft curls.

Then he remembered.

The unbearable pain, the moment his consciousness left his body in defense. He remembered the soft arms that circled around him as whispered pleas called out to him, demanding that he return to her.

He didn't want to respond to the voice pulling him back from where he had retreated to, where the memories of excruciating pain couldn't get him. But somehow, he found that he was unable to resist the sound of her voice as it demolished the barriers around his safe haven. He wanted to follow the voice that told him that it was all right, that he was safe because he was with her and he felt he might believe it. He wanted to believe it.

As he slowly became aware of the protective hold of her arms, hushing the nameless anxiety lurking in the corners of his mind, he tentatively followed the voice calling him back to consciousness.

A lone tear escaped from his good eye.

Then he heard an agonizing scream.

The sound, like an animal in its death throes, ripped through the air, sounding as if it came from somewhere outside his body. It cut through his senses.

His breathing became ragged as waves of nausea followed the flood of emotions washing over him with overwhelming force. Little stars started to dance behind his eyes, when he squeezed them shut.

Years ago, Zuko had defied rain and thunder on the mount where he'd cried out the grief and rage which had been piling up in his subconscious for so long. The relief it had brought him had been just enough to hesitantly open himself towards an alternative path from the one his father had forced upon him. A path he'd followed ever since.

The rest of the emotions however, had remained piled up in his subconscious, waiting for the day to find its way out. Waiting, he now knew, for that moment when Katara would hold his chin and force him to look at her as she asked him the question.

Zuko started to shiver all over, as suddenly his throat seemed to be on fire. Vaguely, he registered a voice saying, "Shush, it's all right, Zuko."

And then, just like his mother in his memory, the voice started to hum a lullaby. It wasn't the same though. The melody was alien but still strangely familiar to him as if he'd heard it sometime before, not too long ago. And although there were no words accompanying the gentle voice this time, his mind subconsciously started to paint images of ice and snow, the cold beauty of the moon and a mother's protective hold by the warm fire…

Then the remains of his numbness shattered around him. His golden eyes shot open as it all came back to him.

He found himself kneeling next to the dying fire in an elegant Water Tribe room, in the arms of the girl who belonged with that room. She knelt by his side, her arms wrapped tightly around him, and his head resting on her shoulder as she gently swayed back and forth. He noticed that his own arms were wrapped around her waist as well.

For a moment, a weak sensation of gratitude towards Katara coursed through his mind, but then his blood ran cold.

With a gasp of dismay Zuko began to realize to what extent he'd let himself go tonight. A groan escaped him. This was horrible.

"Katara, I'm... I'm s- so sorry." His voice was barely more than a whisper as he started to pull back.

The rocking stopped, but after a few moments he realized that Katara's arms refused to let him go. His confused mind registered the restraint and his body started to tremble in reaction.

Again, he tried to pull himself from her grasp as he repeated, "Katara… I'm so…"

"Don't," she said, quietly. Immediately, he froze, somehow afraid to go against her wishes. Motionlessly, he waited for her to continue.

For a moment, a silence descended between them until a sad whisper reached his ears. "Please... don't apologize..." She fell silent.

Then the rocking started again. The movement was barely perceptible this time, a motion to give Katara time to search for the right words.

"Don't be sorry," she finally said softly. "You have been hurt. You were hurt so badly, that I can't even start to imagine."

Her voice started to choke as it trailed away. On impulse, she pulled him closer, tightening her grip, as if to protect him from events that had taken place years ago.

"It's... worse than I had feared... after... the Tsungi Horn." She lowered her voice, as she tried to control her own emotions. "And then the pain it cost you to tell me all of this. I was so afraid when you didn't react anymore."

She put her cheek against the crown of his head and her curls fell in a thick curtain around his face. All at once, Zuko was immersed in the fresh fragrance of water lilies, causing his heart to make a strange flutter, despite the downcast situation. Subconsciously, he closed his eyes and inhaled.

"You pulled me back," he finally whispered and he felt that this time she would release him when he untangled himself from her grasp. Slowly, he sat up straight and watched as she closed her eyes, shaking her head in agony.

"Don't say that!" She objected fiercely. "I forced you to tell me about this... this experience. But I had no right, none whatsoever, to make you undergo this hell again..."

Zuko opened his mouth to retort, but fell silent when she added on a whisper, "…Not after what I did to you in the Crystal Caves."

"No," Zuko breathed weakly.

But Katara didn't listen, as guilt and self-loathing settled on her features. She cursed her actions of three years ago. How ignorant she had been. "I am truly sorry," she whispered. "I finally realize what I did to you. You would have told me then, would have trusted me enough to tell me. And I just played with your hopes and walked off with Aang when the opportunity presented itself. And then to think I hated you for your perceived betrayal." She shook her head, utterly disgusted with herself.

But, Zuko now took her wrists in a gentle but urgent grasp, forcing her to look at him.

"No, Katara, stop it," he ordered her. She flinched under the fierce gaze in his golden eyes. "You didn't betray me, nor did you play with my hopes. You didn't know and you had every right to suspect my betrayal. And..." he swallowed with difficulty, "you were the first person to ever listen to me, besides my uncle. You were, are, the first person I ever... _wanted_ to tell, whom I thought would understand. It... means the world to me."

For a moment he lowered his gaze, then he whispered, "You gave me the key to break free from my father and sister..."

His tense gaze held hers, waiting anxiously for her response. In those golden, almond-shaped eyes, perfect even when marred, Katara recognized the same look of understanding she'd seen in his eyes before their untimely rescue from the Crystal Caves of Ba Sing Se. And as her throat became thick, she finally allowed herself to fully appreciate that what had happened in the caves under Lake Laogai held as much importance to him as it held to her. Something she had refused to accept until now, afraid of getting hurt again. But now, she allowed herself to recognize the honesty and vulnerability in his eyes, as her gaze come to rest upon the disheveled part of his face, she slowly lifted her hand.

Zuko's eyes widened when he noticed her reaching for his cheek. But, he didn't pull back as he felt the touch of her fingers brush the burnt skin. He shivered and closed his eyes as his heart jumped at the feeling of her cool hand cupping his face. Unconsciously, he leaned into the soft touch, a soft sigh escaping his lips. Finally, he felt the gentle touch of her hand on his face again, after more than three years.

At the time, he had been slightly confused about her reluctance to proceed with the next step of her offer to heal him, as if a force bigger than herself had held her hand in place, while she studied his features.

But, during her momentary hesitation, he had allowed himself to drift off in her examining touch. Reveling in her acceptance, her care, as he had relished in the feeling that she'd offered her precious healing water to him. Not her moronic brother. Not the little earthbender. Not the Avatar. But him: her enemy. He who, unexpectedly, understood her better than all of the members of her small family put together.

But instead of a cold cave, they were now in Katara's comfortable sitting room. Aang was far away in the Earth Kingdom and Katara wasn't examining his scar now.

Instead, his heart skipped a beat when he noticed that Katara's slender fingers softly caressed his scar, trailing along his closed eye towards his ear and back. Her touches were light as a feather and felt like kisses to him. He bowed his head, his heart picking up speed as he relished in the marvelous feeling.

And then, finally, it hit him. It felt like a stab in the chest when he realized that it hadn't been the promise of being healed by Katara, which he had thought he had craved all this time, but the gentle touch of her soft hands. A longing, he now understood with painful clarity, which The Painted Lady had recognized.

His face heated up at the realization and he lowered his gaze to avoid Katara's eyes. Suddenly, he was afraid of what her reaction would be when she saw the longing in his eyes, a longing that went further than wanting to be healed by the Avatar's waterbending teacher.

He started out of his thoughts when the sound of Katara's voice broke the heavy silence, though it was barely more than a whisper. "I am truly grateful that despite the hardship I put you through, especially after you joined our group, you still wanted me to know about your past. Trusted me enough with it. I don't deserve it, but I am still so glad you did. I hope you'll forgive me… because I think... no, I know for sure now that I do understand."

Slowly, he opened his eyes to drown in her sincere look as he still felt the coolness of her hand covering most of the sensitive skin of his scar. Her face was sad, remorseful, but to Zuko it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard. She understood. His lips curled into a brilliant smile, which lit up his face and brightening his eyes.

Involuntarily, Katara sucked in her breath when the most loving, beautiful smile appeared on her friend's handsome features, solely meant for her. He put his warm hand over hers, took it from his face and while closing his eyes, pressed a gentle kiss into her palm. "Thank you." He sighed. "Katara."

* * *

**A/N:** _I want to thank all of you for your beautiful reviews on the previous chapter. I'm so glad everyone liked, even loved, that one. This chapter actually is the wrap up for the previous chapter, so that's why it's short. _

_I want to thank my beta Lieta for her continuing precision and enthusiasm. _

_Thank you all for reading and until next time!_


	17. Flaunt

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 17: Flaunt**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, White Witch

* * *

The old general's living room was dark and a complete silence had descended upon the crowded area when the quiet Earth Kingdom manservant came soundlessly in and looked around. Iroh, who had retreated in his study for the remainder of the evening, had asked him to check on the young Avatar and Lady Bei Fong once in a while. He blinked against the darkness and it wasn't until his eyes began to adjust that he saw their silhouettes by the window, their attention fixed on the Pai Sho board between them. Engulfed by the game, they hadn't noticed twilight setting in and by now only the murky, false light coming from the window helped the young Avatar in deciding on his next move. Shaking his head, the servant shuffled further into the living room and started to light some candles.

Aang didn't look up when the warm light of an oil lamp cast a golden glow over the game. Fascination spoke from his lively features and he bowed forward slightly as he continue to watch the pair of small, pale hands tentatively move across the Pai Sho board he'd made. The sensitive fingers followed the filmy ridges, touching the tiles here and there as glassy eyes stared into the endless nothing. The concentration on the petite girl's delicate features broke when her lips curled into a satisfied smile.

Unbeknownst to him, Aang mirrored her smile when her hand, strong enough to crush a mountain range, now took one of her Red Rhododendron tiles with infinite care and reached for his White Jade tile. The unfortunate tile was flipped over, before landing in the pot.

It had been a week since Iroh had told the young people about the Order's connection to the Avatar and his history of becoming Grandmaster of the Order. And, although the subject hadn't been brought up again, it had given Aang a lot to chew on.

He had needed to change his perspective on his upbringing and the ties that existed between the Order and him. He also had a strong feeling Iroh hadn't told him everything there was to tell. Things he had to figure out for himself, which, he felt, Iroh also seemed to expect of him.

As the season of the airbenders slowly drew to an end and the cherry tree outside Iroh's little house lost the last of its leaves, Aang started to realize that Zuko and Katara weren't the only tiles on the Grandmaster's board in this mysterious game he played to secure the future of his Order. And he did not like it.

Being the Avatar, he strongly objected to being subjected to anyone's schemes, especially since Iroh downright refused to clarify his plans, pretending that he didn't have one in particular. If it weren't for Toph, Aang would have left a long time ago. Toph and his frightening dreams...

Absentmindedly, Aang's gaze trailed from the painful situation he'd maneuvered himself into on the Pai Sho board, to the victoriously smirking earthbender across the table. And as Toph picked up one of her tiles, he felt that before the end of the season, both he and Toph would have been moved into their final positions as well.

"I win."

The sound of Toph's triumphant voice breaking the silence pulled Aang out of his reverie. He looked up and noticed that Toph's smirk had changed into a quite charming smile. Then his gaze was drawn towards the board and he noticed that almost all of his tiles had vanished.

"Oh," he said, a little taken aback as he scratched the back of his head. His thoughts must have been miles away given that he hadn't even consciously noticed that the petite earthbender had cut him to ribbons.

Toph stood up and cleared the board in one neat movement.

"You will never win a game against me if you don't start to pay attention, Twinkle Toes!"

Aang nodded, a vague smile playing on his lips. Since he had made Toph the Pai Sho board, she had become undefeatable at the game. Though, he knew that part of her success had to do with his wandering thoughts.

His grey eyes drifted towards the stairs. The wandering of his thoughts also had something to do with the reason why he had become afraid of the night and dreaded going to sleep. Instead, he'd rather stay downstairs in Iroh's crowded sitting room, drawing comfort from Toph's vivid presence. Here, she was safe.

After the ending of the war, Toph had stood by as Team Avatar fell apart, understanding that with all of the couples fanning out over the world she would stay behind alone. As she didn't find it in her heart to return to her parents in Gaoling, she had decided to stay with Iroh, the old man she'd always turned to for tea and advice, in Ba Sing Se.

Her choice had turned out to be a wise one. Over the years, the general had become a mentor to her, as well as a very dear friend. She had even gained the right to call him Uncle. In Iroh, Toph had found a substitute parent who encouraged her to further develop her abilities rather than suppressing them. He had also been a witness as her crush on Sokka faded away with time, while another, more sincere friendship had evolved into something deeper.

In Toph, Iroh had found a student, an apprentice he secretly trained for a future place within the Order. She had already helped him with his mysterious plans and Aang knew that, fragmented as it might be, Toph knew more about Iroh's strategies than she let on.

All through the evening, Aang noticed that Toph was missing the presence of her mentor. On several occasions her eyes would wander towards the stairs leading to where Iroh's study was located. The old man had not joined them this evening, which happened very rarely. Usually, he took delight in those evenings when the three of them had gathered in his overly crowded living room and he would inquire after their progression with the walls or simply watch Toph's progress with Pai Sho in quiet satisfaction. Tonight, however, he had chosen to retreat to his study with two letters he'd received earlier this day.

Toph's body language told Aang that she was as curious as he was about the content of the letters the old general had taken with him. They silently wondered what was so important about them that it required Iroh to retreat to his study to read them. The only difference was that Toph knew that she would eventually be informed, if only partly, about what was in the letters, Aang concluded bitterly.

Toph yawned and Aang knew it couldn't be helped anymore. He stood up, and bent forward to pick up the board. At the same moment, however, Toph reached out as well and Aang's heart skipped a beat when he noticed that his hands covered hers in a gentle hold. For a moment, Toph seemed to freeze, then her cheeks colored a deep crimson.

Immediately, Aang pulled away, mumbling an embarrassed, "Sorry."

But the petite earthbender just shook her head angrily as she cleared away the Pai Sho board and stomped towards the staircase.

Aang followed her with his eyes, mixed feelings passing over his features, as she hastily went up the stairs and disappeared from sight. Their fierce reactions to the accidental brush of their hands both surprised and confused him and he couldn't deny the regret he felt at Toph's run upstairs.

Aang sighed and made to follow Toph's example, absentmindedly putting out the candles with a sharp snap of his fingers. A trick he'd learned from Zuko.

… Who really wasn't the person he wanted to think of right now.

With an annoyed shake of his head, Aang left the living room, surrendering it to the dark of the night.

In the farthest corner of the room a sinister gleam passed through the ruby eyes of the frightening monkey statue.

* * *

The upstairs hallway was shadowed, but for a glimpse of light and the subtle scent of jasmine tea coming from Iroh's study. The golden glow only slightly illuminated the silhouette of the petite earthbender ready to retreat into her room.

For a moment, Aang stopped to watch her standing there, admiring the delicate line of her neck as she bowed her head and opened the shoji door.

At that moment, a paralyzing fear washed over him. He froze on his spot as the image of Toph's face contorted in fright took over his senses, taking away his breath. A shiver went down his spine. The dream was back. The dream he'd dreamt for the past three days and in which he had been confronted with the face of his earthbending teacher as she clearly was in mortal danger. Of their own accord, his feet started to cross the hallway with long, agitated strides.

* * *

Toph stood still in front of her room and pulled aside the shoji door when she found her way barred by Aang, who impulsively put his hand over hers, shielding her with his arm.

Of course, she'd heard his light steps in the silence surrounding them, but his sudden movement took her by surprise. She gasped and turned around slowly. "Aang?"

The sound of her voice broke through Aang's panic and he realized the intimacy of his touch. He pulled away as if stung by a bee. "I'm sorry, Toph," he said for the second time this evening. "Goodnight."

Then he turned on his heels and hurried for his own room, mentally slapping himself for his actions. It was only a dream for Appa's sake!

"Goodnight, Aang," Toph murmured back in surprise, which was the last thing he heard before he closed the shoji door to his room.

* * *

He was in the Spirit World again, that brownish world, a swamp really, in which only weeping willows and birches seemed to survive. He was carried around by the lion-turtle, an animal that incessantly mumbled unintelligible things to him as it crept forward endlessly. Aimlessly.

Aang felt restless. He didn't know why, but he wanted the ancient beast to hurry. There wasn't much time left. His eyes wandered over the desolate place and widened when a white-bearded monkey appeared from out of nowhere.

"The Monkey King," Aang whispered.

The Monkey King started to laugh, a high, threatening laugh, and cackled, "You've outrun your destiny once, Avatar, but you have to face it, before it's too late!"

Then the ground was swept away and he fell, fell into a deep black hole. He was falling while knowing that he didn't remember how to fly.

In an instant, the environment altered completely and he landed in a burning landscape as Phoenix King Ozai hovered over him, a maniacal glint in his golden eyes. Aang stumbled back in fear and felt something hit him in the back.

Searing pain went through his core as he entered the Avatar State and turned to see the pointy rock that had caused the pain burning into his scar. The shock made him fall out of the Avatar State again and back into the black hole.

He whirled his arms in panic as he tried to grab a hold of something to prevent himself from falling further. Then the darkness around him seemed to retreat somewhat and a serene feeling came over him as a winged boar calmly, almost elegantly flew towards him. He extended his hand towards the flying boar, utterly relieved to see the animal when the scenery changed again.

Aang gasped as he realized that he had entered another dream, an older dream. The dream he feared the most.

Toph was wandering around in the Spirit World, screaming his name. He tried to reach her, but whatever he did - screaming, running, the distance between them would only increase. As the tears ran down his cheeks and the muscles in his legs started to burn as he fought to reach her, his view of Toph would be cut off by the appearance of a spirit with a tattered veil flowing around a rice hat.

"No! Go away!" he yelled as he tried to step around the spirit, his movements slow as if he was held back by quicksand.

And at the realization that it was sand he was fighting his way through, the surroundings changed from the Spirit World into the Si Wong Desert. His wide eyes registered Toph walking toward Wan Shi Tong's Library, which was disappearing into the sand.

"No..." he choked, "she will be drawn into it. Appa! Pull her out! Let me through!"

The spirit drifted closer to him, as a faint outline of a huge flying bison tried to reach for Toph, but just as with his master, he didn't seem able to succeed, disappearing whenever he tried to get closer to the petite earthbender.

The spirit still floated in front of him, demanding his attention. "Then let go of her," she said quietly in her ringing voice.

What? Aang's face contorted in dismay. Let go of Toph? "No! I... I need to save her!"

But then he witnessed the spirit's eyes slowly changing color from a soft grey to a brilliant blue, deep as the southern ocean and shining like the cold moon. They were sapphires in the dark gold setting of a darkening skin. All at once, the spirit was surrounded by flames, an image he vaguely remembered from when he'd first had this dream three years ago.

"She's not yours to save, Avatar," the spirit whispered and Aang finally understood she wasn't talking about Toph at all.

Sweat dripped from his shaved head as he frantically tried to see where Toph was. His heart skipped a beat, when he noticed how close she'd come to the sinking library.

"Toph!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Let go of her then!" The spirit now ordered in a stern voice, her blue eyes glistening fiercely, strongly resembling _her_ when she was mad at him. Katara.

His gaze swept back and forth between Toph and the spirit, confusion tearing him apart. At that moment, Toph turned around, her delicate features having disappeared from her face, leaving only two empty holes where her glassy eyes had been...

* * *

"Nooo!" Aang woke with a start. His eyes were wide as his heart pounded in his throat. Sweat spouted from his laboring body.

"Aang," a soft voice whispered next to him and his blurred gaze needed a moment to see the petite figure in the white silk nightdress. It was Toph.

Without it's characteristic green headband, her black hair hung freely down to her shoulders, framing her small face. It emphasized her frailty.

She lifted a hand and put it on his forehead. "It's all right now, Aang, you had a bad dream."

"Why are you here?" Aang whispered hoarsely.

"You called for me," Toph stated simply. "In fact, you have been calling for me for three days now, but this is the first time you woke up."

"I have?" Aang breathed, trying to collect his thoughts and to control his ragged breathing.

Toph just nodded. Then she bowed her head, her empty gaze fixed on a point behind him. She fidgeted with her hands. "Listen Aang. I don't know what's going on with you, or what you are dreaming about, but... but I can hear that it concerns me. If you want to talk to me, if you're worried about me, you can tell me when you're ready. In the mean time, I wanted to... to ask you if it's all right if... if I come sleep in your room for awhile. Maybe... it will help chasing away the dreams," she ended her sentence in embarrassment.

He didn't react immediately and Toph began to stand up, shaking her head angrily. "Forget I suggested it, it's stupid."

But, when she turned around, her wrist was grabbed by a clammy hand.

"Toph wait." Aang's tenor voice sounded from behind her, a lot calmer now. "It would mean a lot to me if you would stay," he added quietly.

Toph took a deep breath and then turned around, smirking. "Well, move over then... or do you expect a lady to sleep on the floor?"

"Lady?" Aang murmured involuntarily as he made room on his futon and received a painful punch in return, to which he smiled happily.

But, as Toph lay down next to her friend, she felt the desperation with which he wrapped his arms around her petite body, pulling her head against his shoulder. And before she drifted off into a comfortable sleep, she realized that he was clinging to her as if he was terrified of losing her forever.

* * *

Katara woke to the bleak, grayish light coming in through the small, round window. It was a somber shade of gray foreshadowing the months of darkness that would soon descend upon the South Pole. Her drowsy brain registered that she wasn't in bed, but she felt comfortable and warm nonetheless. She shifted somewhat, snuggling closer to the source of the warmth.

She felt a deep breath, a sigh almost, tickle her neck in reaction to her movement. The feeling gently led her back to reality, a reality where an arm tightened around her shoulders when she moved. Slowly, she became aware of the fact that her head was resting on a solid chest, moving with the calm breathing of a person deeply asleep. Her own hand clutched a lean waist which felt strangely familiar, as if this wasn't the first time her arm had ended up there. She couldn't say if the feeling was imagined or not.

Carefully, Katara lifted her head and blinked twice before understanding what she saw - the face of a peacefully sleeping Zuko turned toward her.

At that moment, she became aware of the fact that their limbs were literally entangled with each other. But to her own surprise, she didn't jerk away from him in embarrassment. Instead, she felt strangely moved by having him resting in her arms.

They must have fallen asleep this way after their talk the night before. Exhausted as they had been, they had simply slumped back into the cushions in front of the now dead fire. Apparently, none of the servants had dared to come in to light the fire again and Katara hadn't felt the chill in the room, protected as she was by a firebender's warmth.

Katara propped herself up on her elbow and a smile tugged at her lips when his body unconsciously tried to stay close to her, his head coming to rest against her arm. She took in the serene expression on his features, admiring the way strands of his silk black hair fell over his forehead as the long black lashes of his good eye trembled on his pale cheek. It was rare to get an opportunity to watch Zuko sleep, since he was always up before her. Her heart wrenched when she realized that their conversation must have exhausted him so much that she could actually catch him sleeping. And, although she didn't want to admit it, she liked studying him, now that he wasn't aware of it.

As Katara fixed her soft gaze on his sleeping features, she carefully lifted her hand from his waist and brought her fingers to his face, drawn in by the calm, vulnerable expression on his chiseled features. Gently, she brushed a few stray strands of hair from his marred eye. He didn't react.

Katara wondered if Mai had ever touched his scar like that, with whole acceptance of its presence on Zuko's features, as a part of Zuko's life and soul. But, on reflection, Katara knew she hadn't. Zuko must have felt she was most comfortable with ignoring it, pretending the scar wasn't there and hadn't let her. It must have hurt him though.

Katara's sensitive fingertips started to wander across the rest of his face with feather light touches. Hesitantly, they traced the outlines of his scar, feeling the rough skin under her sensitive touch and Zuko sighed again, but it didn't sound stressed. Then her fingers glided from the damaged ear to his high forehead, trailing from one eye to the other and across the soft line of his cheekbones, one after the other. She let her fingertips follow the straight line of his nose to his strong jaw-line.

What had started as a tender caress of the scar in his face had come to hypnotize Katara as the quickening of her heart fueled her longing to continue the exploration of his features.

What am I doing? She thought in vague panic, but her body ignored her mind as her eyes were drawn to the last stop on her fingers' exploration of Zuko's face. His lips.

They were slightly parted as sometimes his breaths escaped through them, tickling the bare skin of her, now numb, elbow that was propped on the floor. Her blood started to pound in her ears as her fingers left his chin and drifted upwards. Katara trembled when she trailed the outline of his mouth, anxiously awaiting a response. When it failed to occur, she finally dared to touch the lips that had mesmerized her ever since they had brushed her temple in the Temple of the White Lotus. They were smooth and felt soft to the touch.

Her forefinger glided from the beautifully curved upper lip to the fuller lower lip, memorizing the outlines and the way they felt as her face unconsciously drew nearer.

Suddenly, Zuko's eyes fluttered open.

Katara froze. Her face was only inches from his as her gaze was captured by a piercing look in glistening golden eyes, startled and shocked. Her hand was still on his lips.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Katara breathed and jerked back reflexively. She meant to jump up, but then her progress was met with a solid restraint, holding her down.

"Wait!" Zuko pleaded, his voice husky from sleep.

Katara didn't move. She only stared at him with wide eyes, frozen in her half upright position. Waiting, just like he'd begged her to as she felt herself drown in those golden eyes looking at her with a gaze that was full of emotions. Emotions that had a blush rushing to her cheeks.

After a long moment in which none of them moved, one of his hands let go of her arm and, moving upwards, it carefully curled behind her neck to relax the tense muscles there with its warmth while pulling her closer. Katara's eyes widened but she didn't resist. Unconsciously, she held her breath as he straightened up and slowly closed the distance between them. When they were only inches apart from each other, he parted his lips slightly and Katara closed her eyes in anticipation.

"Katara!" A harsh pounding on the door startled them both. "Katara! Wake up! Gran-Pakku is waiting for you!"

There was a moment of silence. "…And for Zuko, too!"

* * *

The temperature was even lower than normally around this time of the year. Katara immediately felt it when she arrived at the courtyard wearing one of her warmest parkas and mittens. She shivered when a gust of icy wind passed through the small square and she ducked into the white fur collar. Her blue eyes narrowed against the wind stinging her cornea as she let her gaze wander over the courtyard. Then she spotted Master Pakku.

The old waterbender was already waiting for them, a displeased expression on his face. They were late.

With matching expressions of guilt on their faces, Katara and Zuko hastily crossed the courtyard and made respectful bows to him.

For a moment, Master Pakku stared at them silently. Then his gruff voice broke the silence.

"I see that you've done like I asked. That's good, it will makes things easier." The last words he seemed to say more to himself than to the young people looking at each other in confusion.

Finally, Katara decided to ask. "What do you mean, Gran-Pakku?"

The old man's eyes hardened disapprovingly. "I see that you've solved that which had become the last barrier between the two of you." And when Katara opened her mouth to ask again, he added curtly, "It's in the way you two behave."

Then the old waterbender turned around abruptly, ending the conversation. Impatiently, he motioned for them to follow him.

As the three of them left the courtyard, Zuko and Katara glanced at each other in embarrassment, both of them feeling the blushes coloring their cheeks. They were grateful that they could blame them on the cold.

* * *

For a certain amount of time, Master Pakku silently went ahead of the young people, his posture stiff despite his old age, ever the unyielding waterbender he was.

So, when he started to speak, Katara and Zuko had to move closer to catch his words. "Before you two arrived at the South Pole I received a very urgent letter from our respected Grandmaster. He asked me to show you something."

The word 'respected' he pronounced a little bitingly and Zuko flinched in reaction. Being a member of the Black Lotus Council apparently wasn't as peaceful a pastime as he'd expected. Apparently, the members weren't all good friends, at least not Master Pakku and Uncle Iroh.

Looking at the stern man's back, Zuko established that in many ways his uncle and Katara's Gran-Pakku were total opposites. The easy going, cozy enjoyer of life and the bitter, dour man who had dedicated most of his life clinging to propriety. Besides their bending prowess, there was only one thing the two older men really had in common and that was their love for the young person who wasn't their offspring but whom they saw as a child of their own nonetheless. Suddenly, Zuko realized that Master Pakku's problem with his Grandmaster lay exactly therein. And, as he paused to watch Katara hurry after her step-grandfather, his lips curled in a bitter smile.

* * *

Silently, Gran-Pakku led them through various small streets and courtyards until he reached one of the back gates uphill. Behind the enormous walls lay endless snow covered plains and mountain ranges, spanned by a still dusky sky in which even at daytime the stars shone bright.

Two impressive waterbenders guarded the gates. They bowed respectfully to their leader and let them through. For a moment, their eyes lingered on Zuko's pale complexion and golden eyes, but when he passed them they nodded to him without averting their gaze. They had been informed about his presence. Despite their deeply rooted distrust of the Fire Nation, they paid their respects to the young Fire Lord, one of the Young War Heroes. A boy who had fought side by side with their Crown Prince and Princess to end his father's cruel reign.

And then the firebender was surrounded by nothing but endless plains of snow, flowing as far as the eye could see under the now clear blue sky. From its low angle, the weak sunlight cast a glow on the blindingly white landscape. His eyes started to water and Zuko squinted at the sharp light reflected by the snow. With difficulty, he followed the two waterbenders as they walked on without a problem.

Zuko was surprised when Master Pakku stopped and turned around, even though the area looked the same as its surroundings to the firebender. The old man's cold eyes wandered from his granddaughter to his Grandmaster's nephew and he seemed to sigh. "I've said before that Grandmaster Iroh asked me to show you something that would be very important to your quest. In his letter he stated that you were able to awaken the White Lotus in the Kyoshi Temple."

He took in their shocked expressions. "Don't make such a face," he said with disdain. "I may not be the Earth Kingdom Representative in the Council but I do know about the Kyoshian temple and its secret as it is. The Kyoshian temple is too important a temple to not let the other representatives share in the knowledge of its existence. This is because it's been predicted that it will play a very important role in the preservation of our Order. But..." he cut himself off, "since I'm already well informed about your doings in the temple, I want to know about the rest of your journey. The part you apparently don't think much of."

Confused, Katara and Zuko took a peek at each other. Katara opened her mouth and, while maintaining eye contact with her traveling companion, she hesitantly complied with her grandfather's demand.

First, she told him about the storyteller and Master Pakku's eyes glistened expectantly when she gave a description of the Spirit Princess, but he didn't interrupt. Then, Katara showed her grandfather the little note she had gotten from Iroh, with the mysterious riddle written in the margin in blackened characters. For a moment, Master Pakku let his eyes wander over the lines, only to sniff scornfully before holding out the paper to Katara, who took it with a hopeful expression in her eyes. She suspected he'd been able to read it.

"Iroh is a fool," he mumbled to himself, but upon seeing his granddaughter's face, his expression softened somewhat. "I suppose neither of you can read it?" His gaze now lingered on Zuko, as if he'd been expecting that the young Fire Lord would contradict him.

Zuko regretfully shook his head. "In my childhood I learned to read the ancient language of the Fire Nation and therefore I could recognize the character for summer, but the rest of the language isn't anything like it."

"And Gran-Gran taught me some old Water Tribe characters so I recognized winter," Katara added and Master Pakku seemed pleasantly surprised.

"Did she now?" he mumbled to himself. Then, he continued matter-of-factly, "I can tell you, as you've already seen for yourself, that the language isn't like the ancient Fire Nation or Water Tribe script. The language is that of the Order of the White Lotus. It is a very ancient language, even older than ancient scripts of the four nations."

Both their eyes widened as they stared down on the tattered piece of paper. They hadn't expected this.

"But how does Iroh expect me to translate it then?" Katara asked a little panicked.

Master Pakku smiled indulgently. "Since he sent you on this mission to save the Order from its doom, I suspect that he would want you to learn to know the Order you are going to save. The ancient language once was used everywhere in this world, now it's only known to members of the Order of the White Lotus who took the trouble to learn the language. Although I've just said that the language isn't like the ancient languages you know of, the key to knowing what this paper says actually lies within those old languages. Just don't think of them as separate."

He sighed when he saw two deep blue orbs looking up at him pleadingly. "All right, one hint. You actually know these words. It's a song. Now..."

Pakku swiftly took a step backwards and Katara only had a moment to put away the paper and repel the wave of snow suddenly flying into her direction. Immediately, she took a defensive stance, staring at her grandfather with wide eyes in surprise.

Pakku lowered his arms and smirked. "Well done, my prodigy pupil."

He lifted his arms again and two streams of water rose from behind him, flowing above his head as his face hardened. "The Grandmaster has asked me to show you the secret the Order hides in this newly built city, but I won't allow it if you can't convince me you're ready. The Kyoshi Temple proves nothing," he cut off Zuko with a sharp look in his direction. "You're at the South Pole now."

The streams of water began to swirl dangerously above Master Pakku's head.

Katara bowed her head. "Step back, Zuko. I have to do this alone. He wants me to prove that I understand."

When she looked up again, a dangerous and concentrated glint appeared in her eyes. But also, a smirk? She had never sparred with her grandfather again after she completed her training and she was ready to take her chance to show him how much she'd progressed since their last encounter at the North Pole.

Zuko stepped back hesitantly, not at all comfortable with leaving her alone in this fight. But who was he to deny her this? It would be an insult to her capacities if he were to try to interfere. He watched in awe as the mighty wave of freezing water hurled towards Katara, who took over the dangerous wave pretty easily and let it swirl around her, as if it was just a ball she'd caught. Zuko's experienced eye recognized that they were testing each other.

Then, without indication, the fight started in all its intensity. The balls of water coming Katara's direction were changed into ice daggers by her, a familiar sight for Zuko, as was the immense speed with which she directed them towards her old sifu. Easily, he raised a giant wall against the quickly approaching threat but he was only just in time to escape the water whips following him. With a scowl darkening his stern features, he froze them and let them splinter into thousands of razor sharp snowflakes, which he then sent towards Katara.

Zuko caught the widening of her eyes before she covered herself in impenetrable ice. A second later she had let go of the cover and now formed an octopus of water, surrounding her with waving arms, the smirk was back on her face again as she waited for her sifu's attack. For a moment it seemed like Zuko was back into the Crystal Caves. He almost expected Aang to go into the Avatar State behind him.

His gaze darted to Master Pakku, waiting for his response, but Master Pakku didn't attack. Instead he looked at his former student with apparent irritation on his cold features.

"Katara!" he shouted and she flinched at his hard tone. "Stop this flaunting immediately!"

Katara froze, a look of confusion appearing on her determined features. The triumphant octopus disappeared powerlessly in the snow beneath its master as Zuko understood what Master Pakku had meant with his remark that this situation was different than in the underground temple of Kyoshi Island.

Although the old man hated to admit it, Master Pakku acknowledged that the Grandmaster's nephew had somehow showed the right attitude towards the Order's principles in there. Thus making it possible for The Painted Lady to appear. It was an attitude Katara had lacked until now, so he'd drawn her into this fight in which he'd hoped to awake something inside her, instead of presenting her with an opportunity to show off her bending technique to her grandfather.

Zuko blushed in embarrassment, as he understood that Master Pakku knew about what had happened in the Kyoshi Temple. It put Pakku's reluctant treatment of him and his protectiveness toward his granddaughter in a different light.

Still, the older man had aimed for some sort of outcome from Zuko and Katara's talk last night. With a hollow feeling in his stomach, Zuko realized what he had wanted. Acceptance from Katara. Because, although he didn't like it, the Water Tribe Representative acknowledged that a bond between his precious granddaughter and the Fire Lord was necessary to save his Order. And by leaving them be last night, he had tried to solidify the bond between them. A bond that Katara would be needing soon. As Zuko bowed his head, he remembered the look in her blue eyes while she leaned over him, her fingers resting on his lips. It was the same look he'd seen her with before Sokka so harshly disturbed them.

Zuko's gaze darkened at the memory and he shook his head, fixing his eyes on Katara.

* * *

At her sifu's annoyed exclamation, Katara had stumbled back in surprise, allowing Master Pakku to come closer. Now, she nervously turned her head and caught Zuko's gaze, surprised to see so many feelings reflected in them. Mostly worry and some conflict she couldn't grasp, but also... encouragement? As if he wanted to tell her something.

Katara narrowed her eyes as she looked at the firebender standing in the snow, his pale face wary above thick Water Tribe clothes. It was a face she'd grown very close to in the short time they'd been traveling together. A face which, only hours ago, she had caressed, driven by an urge more powerful than herself.

This urge was becoming stronger with each day passing, but she realized as her eyes locked with Zuko's, that it wasn't new. It was familiar and had been effectively buried after it had seared through her for the first time, years ago. Buried under a mild affection for the savior of the world, in the safe knowledge of that same world's kind approval.

She quickly turned her head towards Master Pakku again. He was readying himself to rise high above her in a column of spinning water. She knew that Master Pakku had been one of the people who hadn't approved of her choice of Aang and she understood what he so reluctantly wanted her to face. She closed her eyes for a moment and smiled serenely at his latest comment, knowing the truth behind it. Then she nodded to herself.

With the graceful, flowing movements of the classic waterbending fighting style she summoned two ribbons of water, then approached her old sifu with abrupt, fierce gestures as she shot the water at him in short intervals and with enormous speed.

Zuko's eyes widened, surprised by the sudden ferocity in her movements, which were quite unusual for a waterbender. But then he felt a fierce, warm feeling course through him, as he realized she was using firebending moves. Moves aiming for the legs. Moves he'd taught her once, a long time ago, and which she seemed to have perfected alone, or with help from Aang. Moves he'd never seen her using again whenever he'd caught her training.

'A waterbender barely works with his feet, as he needs a rooted stance to wield his flowing element,' Uncle Iroh whispered in the back of his head. Then Katara jumped into the air, shifted her balance and with a beautiful spin directed the snow from underneath her feet towards Master Pakku, making him stumble and fall.

It was an astonishing view and Zuko was in pure awe as he saw the snow, the water, being directed by her feet, the offensive firebending moves giving her attacks a deadly aim. He sucked in his breath. That move...

Her face showing ferocity beyond her warm, caring nature, Katara towered over her old sifu. One arm was lifted and pulled back for attack and the other extended towards the astonished northern waterbender, her small hands curled into fists.

For a moment, Master Pakku seemed to be outraged. Then a warm smile broke through his hard expression as he said one word. "Finally."

* * *

**A/N:** _Thank you so much for the lovely reviews I received so far. I'm glad you all liked the previous chapter despite its shortness. Well, here you have a chapter worth over 5000 words. And there's a large portion about Aang and Toph again. _

_As always, I would like to thank my beta Lieta whose valuable comments continue to improve the story._

_I hope you've enjoyed this chapter as well. The question remains: now that Katara has shown her worth will Master Pakku finally comply to Iroh's request? And won't it be too late?_


	18. Phobia

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 18: Phobia**

Music: Rebecca Kneubuhl & Gabriel Mann, Temple to Freezer (The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning)

* * *

Zuko had silently awaited the end of the fight between Katara and her old sifu. Speechlessly, he watched as Katara had begun to move with the ferocity and agility of a firebender. With each ball of water she sent toward her grandfather more of his defenses crumbled until he ended up lying on the ground as Katara hovered over him, a grim expression on her face. The old man was defeated by a series of powerfully executed firebending moves. Movements Zuko himself had taught her.

A warm feeling coursed through him when he realized that she must have been practicing those moves ever since that night on the beach when she'd asked him to teach her. The day of his coronation.

The events of that day still lay fresh in his memory. It had been the first time he'd taken his place on the Dragon Throne in a ceremony, which had made a sixteen-year-old youth ruler of the most powerful of the remaining three nations. The full weight of the worldwide expectations came crashing down harshly as flames rose up around the throne. Knowing that he was invisible for a moment he'd bowed his head, seriously questioning his abilities to live up to those expectations. But, then he remembered how his uncle never ceased to believe in him and he found the courage to straighten up again.

The first thing he'd seen after the flames had retreated were Katara's eyes looking up at him with genuine gratitude and happiness in them.

To his relief, the sacral atmosphere of the coronation ceremony had eventually given way to a more festive one as all of the guests had gathered in the grand banquet hall in the Fire Nation Palace. There had been no ball to conclude the relatively modest banquet following the coronation, as Zuko had found that the occasion did not call for a celebration, with only two days since his father and Azula's defeat and the end of a hundred year war driven by the Fire Nation.

When the appropriate moment finally had come for the Fire Lord to leave the banquet, the whole of Team Avatar had escaped the Fire Nation Palace. By tomorrow, their paths would lead them seperate ways and they all felt the need to be together as a group for the last time. A very crowded Appa had flown them to the nearby beach, a private one, which belonged to the royal family.

Zuko still remembered Mai's reluctance to climb onto the huge bison and her withdrawn silence during the rest of the evening. She had merely been sitting there on the beach and had watched him and his friends as they had discarded their formal robes and dove into the sea, finally allowing their excitement to take over at the deserted beach. Far away from the rush of celebration, the realization began to sink in that the war was over for real, that they had succeeded. And survived.

It had been a beautiful night. The velvet sky had been decorated with glistening stars and an almost imperceptible new moon. Everyone else had already been splashing around when Zuko decided to let Mai be and finally took a run for the lukewarm water as well, looking forward to the relaxation it would bring him.

He stayed underwater a long time, only to surface when his lungs threatened to burst. Finally, he had given in and shot up to the surface. He inhaled deeply and freely like he'd never breathed in before, feeling the tension and anguish from years past roll down his body with the streams of seawater that brought a pleasant coolness to the new star shaped scar on his chest. Tomorrow, he would be burdened with the concerns that came with ruling a nation but tonight he felt liberated.

"Zuko!" a voice, clear and familiar, called out to him from very close by.

Startled, he'd spun around to the sound.

He didn't know where Katara had suddenly come from, but here she was, right in front of him, watching him with an unreadable gaze in her brilliantly shining eyes, as water dripped from her gleaming curls and body. She looked like drops of water that had taken the form of a young woman, was the thought that involuntarily shot through his head as his heart skipped a beat at the sight. Well, she was a waterbender...

Her eyes glistened in excitement and he vaguely noted that this was actually the first time she gave him, Zuko, one of her huge, warm smiles that she reserved for her closest friends. He found that he liked it.

Katara shook the water out of her hair, like she had seen Toph do just a couple of minutes ago. The beads of water sparkled like diamonds in what little light came from the new moon.

"I wanted to ask you..." For a moment she was busy squeezing the rest of the water out of her hair.

'Yes?' Zuko thought quietly as he looked down at her. 'What do you want to ask me, Water Tribe girl who saved my life in more ways than she will ever know?' He knew he would do anything she asked, even drying her hair with his hands and becoming a rewarding subject of Sokka's ridicule, if she wanted him to.

But she wanted no such thing. She looked up at him again and smiled.

The most surprising thing was that he didn't find her question surprising.

"Will you teach me a few firebending moves?" she asked hopefully. "I'd love to learn some but Aang won't help me."

He glanced inconspicuously at the Avatar who was much too busy playing some violent kind of air ball versus rocks game with Toph. They were ruining the whole beach as the wind blew away the delicate silver sand and its smooth structure of the sand got spoiled by dozens of rocks, littered all over the place. Tonight, he didn't care.

"Please?" Katara went to stand in his view, pulling his attention to her bright eyes again.

"Ehm... now?" He cast a glance at Mai, who still sat on the beach with a bored expression in her eyes, looking like she would rather have stayed with Ty Lee and the Kyoshi Warriors at the banquet. Katara nodded vigorously.

"Sure," he mumbled and Katara squealed in excitement.

She... squealed? Raising his eyebrow in surprise, he realized how little he actually knew about the Avatar's crush, always having dealt with her in grave circumstances. Still, it had always felt as if he knew her like the back of his hand.

Expectantly, she went to stand at the sea front. She only wore her underwear, in which she also practiced her bending, the tan color of her skin contrasting with the white of her bindings. The warm breeze played softly through her curls, immediately drying up her body as she waited.

Zuko subconsciously swallowed and mentally cursed himself. Why in Agni's name had he said yes? Teaching his best friend's crush firebending moves in front of his own girlfriend with whom he'd just made things right again, while he couldn't keep his eyes from said Avatar's crush? And of the last he was frustratingly deeply aware.

As he turned his head again to check, Mai didn't seem that interested in them though as she absentmindedly played with one of her knives. And yet, it still could come flying towards them, Zuko realized as he gritted his teeth. But for now, Mai only had raised one eyebrow in modest surprise when she understood what Katara was doing.

He sighed and took a stance, which Katara immediately copied. Scanning her position, Zuko noticed a few flaws and, as he wondered why she always affected him so much, he touched her arms and legs where he wanted her to correct her stance. She wasn't Aang, though, the Avatar he rough handedly had taught the ways of the firebender. With her his touches were feather light, like the breeze through her hair.

Katara giggled softly, trying to remain still. "You're tickling me."

"Oh... sorry," he mumbled in embarrassment.

Taking a step away, he drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes, willing himself into teacher mode, a safe place where he could see her only as a student. Well, a waterbending student wanting to learn firebending.

For an hour, Zuko showed her some basic firebending stances he thought could be useful for a waterbender, stances which enhanced the power of the water to destabilize an opponent. After his initial reluctance, he actually started to enjoy himself as he the training provided him with ideas for new possibilities of using waterbending moves to enhance his own firebending as well. Even then, he knew that he preferred those above the intangible airbending moves or the sturdy earthbending ones.

And he enjoyed teaching Katara.

After having realized the different philosophy behind the discipline of firebending, Katara proved herself a very eager and quick learner. She carefully listened to his instructions and closely watched him demonstrating the various moves. A golden glow was cast over the beach as boosts of fire lit up the dark sky. When Zuko slid out of stance and the fire extinguished, Katara would mirror his movement with a silver ribbon of water, the firebending stances giving much more ferocity to the element she commanded.

And as Sokka and Suki retreated to a somewhat more secluded spot under a low palm tree and Toph defeated Aang in their weird game, the elegant waterbender showed Zuko what she looked like as a fiery firebender. With deadly force, she kicked and hit streams of water in a wide radius all across the beach. It was effortless as if it wasn't the first time she had done so.

With quickly growing admiration, Zuko had watched the enormous talent and skill Katara showed as she swiftly mastered basic movements he'd taught her and something fluttered in his stomach at seeing Katara performing moves from his own bending discipline.

Partly because he didn't want the lesson to be over yet and partly because he wanted to test her, he decided to teach her a very complicated firebending move. With this move the firebender would jump into the air and as his legs wheeled around fire would shoot from his feet. It had taken him quite a while to master that one and he expected Katara to have some difficulty with it as well, accustomed as the lithe waterbender was to staying rooted to the ground.

Her eyes had grown wide the first time he'd shown her the movement and with a smug smile he'd asked her if she wanted to quit already. But that wasn't in Katara's character. Her eyes darkened and she stubbornly lifted her chin. That was his cue to go on. Biting back a triumphant smile he ordered, "Good. When in the air, I want you to use your feet to control the water, just like with the kicks I just taught you." He demonstrated the stance, having slid into teacher mode again. "Now, this is what you do..."

The first time Katara jumped into the air, she half fell to the ground again. Zuko didn't laugh, he'd expected as much. He demonstrated the stance once again, explaining how she needed to balance herself. It worked, but only slightly. As she scrambled up, Katara blew her hair out of her face in annoyance, like she'd seen Toph do and Zuko had to bite back his laughter. Then he thoughtfully tapped his chin while looking absentmindedly at Aang creating an air ball to flee from Toph's boulders. There was a way to help Katara, but...

"When the children in the Fire Nation learn this move, they are held by the stomach to keep them from falling," Zuko offered, silently giving her the choice.

For some reason, her gaze wandered to Mai sitting in the sand, before she nodded curtly.

"Just don't be afraid to fall or to hit me, I will be here to catch you," Zuko said and Katara readied herself.

As soon as she jumped and shifted her balance, Zuko had placed his hands on her stomach to support her while her legs spun in the air. But, the moment her weight came to rest on his hands and he felt the muscles of her stomach tighten under the exposed skin of her belly, the breath was nearly knocked out of him. A jolt of electricity painfully shot through him. He staggered and gasped, but steadied himself immediately in the soft sand beneath his bare feet.

"All right." He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he mustered his strength. "... now finish the move!"

When Katara had finished the stance with a beautiful spin of her legs, they both sank down on the sand, hands resting on their knees as they watched each other silently. They panted slightly. Zuko saw in Katara's eyes that she'd felt his sudden shock and that he'd startled her. He let his head hang, breaking the eye contact.

"I'm sorry," he said, but she cut him off.

"Are you sure, you can..."

"I'm sure, I was just..." His voice trailed off. "Let's try again. I suspect you can do it without help in only one or two more times."

She gave him a genuine smile and scrambled up.

Zuko had been right. After a few more tries with his help, in which he tried to ignore the blissful coolness of her skin burning into his hands and the brush of her soft hair across his arms, Katara successfully performed the movement alone for the first time.

"You are much more talented in firebending than Aang," Zuko finally complimented her and although he really meant it, the only thing he could think was, 'she looks gorgeous.'

For a moment, she studied him, seeing the intense gaze in his eyes, which betrayed his hollow words, then she smiled softly and almost... a little sadly. "Thank you."

At that moment, Zuko had felt two hands lightly rest on his shoulders. Mai. He had hoped she hadn't felt him stiffen.

"Now why would a waterbender want to learn firebending?" she asked in the usual flat tone of her voice, her grey eyes wary as she registered the faint blush covering Katara's cheeks.

"Why not?" Katara defended herself. "It's good to learn from others as General Iroh always says."

For a moment, Mai's gaze lingered on Katara's defiant expression, her eyes narrowing upon Katara's mentioning of Iroh's name, and then she turned towards Zuko, deciding to ignore Katara's last remark.

"Zuko, I think I might want to take a swim with you now and then Katara could go to Aang. He's waiting for you to finish your teachings, sifu Fire Lord..." The last words were spoken teasingly, but the underlying warning was clear.

With a painful jolt, Zuko was pulled back into reality as he cast a look on Aang. The Avatar's attention had only drawn toward them with Mai's approach. Zuko vaguely remembered how Katara had bowed to him, Fire Nation style, the first time he had ever seen her doing that, while she with difficulty made an apologetic smile. Then her slender figure hurried out of his eyesight and it had felt like the Crystal Caves of Ba Sing Se all over again. He hadn't dared to follow her with his gaze. But it had hurt. Again.

After that last night together on the beach, the members of Team Avatar each had gone their own way, and, while Zuko stayed behind in the Fire Nation Palace with Mai, Katara had started to travel around the world with Aang. They never spoke about that night on the beach again.

But a year and a half ago, when they were all gathered in Ba Sing Se, Katara had unexpectedly asked him to teach her once more as they sat on the stairs outside his uncle's teashop.

It had been spring at that time and he remembered the countless apple blossom petals the wind blew around her face together with her loose curls, as her bright eyes shone hopefully. Of course he'd agreed and as he took a white petal between his fingers he made a suggestion of a move for her to learn, actually looking forward to it. He still remembered the happy whistling from the teashop, as if his uncle had overheard their discussion and approved of their plans. Shaking his head, Zuko had gone inside to get them some tea.

But the training never took place. After they'd told Aang and Mai about their plan, they had somehow found themselves engaged in a never-ending stream of activities with their respective partners until the moment had arrived for Mai and Zuko to return to the Fire Nation.

"Phobia, pure phobia," Uncle Iroh had grumbled at an unguarded moment when he didn't know his nephew and Katara could overhear him. A dangerous tone had laced his words and a concerned expression had passed over Katara's features when her gaze followed Iroh's eyes until they came to rest upon both Aang and Mai. She had never brought up the subject again.

* * *

Zuko watched as Master Pakku scrambled up with a surprising agility for his age. To Zuko's surprise, he bowed forward and mumbled something unintelligible to Katara, before he started to wipe the snow from his dark blue parka. In reaction, Katara seemed to wince but regained her composure after a warning look from her grandfather. She clenched her fists.

Zuko took a step forward, not sure if the fight was over now. He felt slightly worried about Katara's reaction. As he moved, he was momentarily distracted when he noticed that the snow had been flattened in this area. So, these were training grounds after all.

But this distraction was short-lived when Katara spun around and eyed him with a surprisingly hard and empty gaze. Zuko flinched in surprise, but before he knew what happened, Zuko saw dozens of icicles flying into his direction, at deadly speed.

Reflexively, he raised an impressive wall of fire to protective himself, using an uncharacteristically slow movement for a firebender. The icicles disappeared the instant that they reached the fiery curtain. Then he automatically pushed the wall toward Katara.

Despite his shock, it still felt liberating to be able to unleash such a huge amount of fire, after having to refrain from bending his element for so long. His silent hope aboard the Water Tribe ship to have a practice fight with Katara when they'd arrived on the South Pole had been shattered when Master Pakku had eyed him with such coolness and disapproval that Zuko had started to realize that they would be given no time for such frivolous things. So, he had to content himself with this one, unexpected attack from Katara.

A graceful wave of snow was raised almost lazily and the fire disappeared in the dry air as Katara stared at him, her eyes wide in shock and for some reason... furious. But her anger was not directed at him.

"That was a waterbending move." Her surprised voice rang across the white plains as she lowered her arms. From underneath the fur laced hood her bright eyes shone in utter astonishment.

Zuko had reacted almost automatically, displaying skill and experience in the unusual move while protecting himself. She blinked and stared at him disbelievingly while he relaxed from his stance, his gaze still wary.

"But... when?" Her voice sounded upset, relief edging the inexplicable rage she emanated.

Zuko smiled a little sadly. "When you decided to use it against me for the first time."

Katara's thoughts went back to that particular moment on the North Pole, when her hands in mittens had traced an elegant movement to raise an enormous wave of water and push it in one fluent movement towards her enemy: a Fire Prince called Zuko… She recalled his piercing golden eyes set in a pale, bruised face, looking at her angrily.

Had he already paid that much attention back then? Or even earlier, when he saw her bending the water for the first time... Her anger seeped away as she had to fight back a fierce blush.

As Zuko blinked in confusion at her sudden awkwardness, Master Pakku watched them silently. Zuko's reaction to Katara's sudden attack had confirmed his suspicions: the young Fire Lord had been incorporating the ways of the waterbender in his training since long ago. It was to his credit, he had to admit, but the old man didn't allow himself to be pleased with it. It was time.

"I presume this is the first time your elements have encountered each other since the ending of the war," Master Pakku established coldly, an observation the young travelers could only confirm.

"Actually, the last time was quite a while before the ending of the war," Zuko dared to elaborate, a flash of pain passing over his face at the memory of that encounter which had been filled with rage and hurt. Still, there had been this inexplicable rush of excitement underneath all the pain, a rush he had also felt when he fought her at the North Pole. It was the excitement of encountering that waterbending girl again, to fight her with her own methods by using a burning version of her own water whips.

As Zuko had suspected, his words had displeased the old waterbender who now motioned them to follow him back to the city. His movements had become surprisingly stiff as he went ahead.

"If you two want to succeed in your mission to save the Order of the White Lotus, it's of vital importance that you practice your bending together," Master Pakku stated sarcastically, almost as if he didn't believe it himself. "I'm surprised the Grandmaster didn't mention anything about it before he sent you on your quest."

Helplessly, Zuko and Katara looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Since the beginning of their journey they had silently, without giving it another thought, settled into the old habits from back when they were still part of Team Avatar. Zuko trained at dawn and Katara at night, when the moon started to rise high above the trees.

When their gazes met, they both realized that this habit first and foremost had come into existence because of Katara's aversion against Zuko at that time, bent as she'd been on avoiding him as much as possible. Katara's cheeks colored in shame as the memory collided with her newfound knowledge of Zuko's background story, making her only feel more miserable about her behavior back then. She let her head hang slightly.

That's when she heard a husky voice say good-naturedly, "It's just an old habit we never thought about, Master Pakku, but I'm sure we can catch up from now on."

Katara shot Zuko a grateful smile but Master Pakku replied sharply, "I expect no less. Only when elements of the most opposite kind meet, will understanding lead to balance."

And the words, although spoken with great reluctance, shared a great resemblance to Iroh's way of speech.

* * *

When they had reentered the city, Master Pakku quickly led them through the winding streets, many of which even Katara didn't know yet.

It still frustrated her that she didn't know all of the streets in her father's city by heart as she followed the old man's stiff steps. Nevertheless, she had a vague notion of where Gran-Pakku was leading them. In the eastern part of the city there was a little, frozen river from the mountain range in the hinterland that entered the city there. She tried to remember if there was anything of interest in that particular area of the city, but her memory failed her once more. And, knowing that asking questions was a waste on her old sifu, she decided to wait for the Water Tribe Representative in the Black Lotus Council to reveal his secrets of his own accord.

Zuko, who was a little blinded by the never-ending white surrounding him at first, now began to notice the difference between structures of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes. It was in the coloring. Whereas the Northern Tribe seemed to have made its walls, houses and palaces of translucent ice, the Southern Tribe had made use of iced snow. The low-rise igloo-shaped buildings contrasted with the multi-tiered, Northern Water Tribe capital with its slender palaces and grand waterworks. It gave the Southern Water Tribe a warmer feel, less ethereal.

Master Pakku led them into a narrow street with small, plain igloos leaning against the city wall. Then he turned around.

Katara and Zuko looked around. There was nothing worth noticing in the near surroundings. But the old waterbender didn't bother to enter the houses, though. Instead, he looked at them sternly.

"When Katara first came to the North Pole seeking a waterbending teacher," he said in a tone in which warm affection suddenly belied his cold expression, "she was actually forbidden to learn the noble discipline of waterbending, as under the laws of the Northern Water Tribe, women were prohibited to practice what was thought of as a men's privilege. The women with bending talents were restricted to healing only."

Zuko's eyes widened with disbelief at Master Pakku's words. He had never heard of anything like it before. Women were prohibited from bending when they had the talent? It sounded outrageous in his ears. Being raised in the Fire Nation, Zuko's teachers had carefully kept knowledge about the other nations from him in fear of creating pity or, worse, understanding. His uncle had tried to do the opposite by telling him about the balance between the four nations, but never was he told about the injustices inside the other nations. While the Fire Nation had been widely acknowledged as a threat to the world for more than a hundred years, attacking and suppressing the peoples of the other nations, he couldn't fathom a Fire Nation without the participation of women. They were farmers, teachers, healers, and even soldiers.

But, when he dared a glance at Katara she gave him a meaningful look, which confirmed the truth in Pakku's words. She had a strange expression on her features as if she was trying to figure out Master Pakku's intentions with telling them this now.

"Contrary to the Southern Water Tribe, the Northern Water Tribe had certain traditions concerning the position of men and women," Master Pakku continued, his sharp eyes noticing Zuko's astonishment. "As Katara discovered the restrictions on bending, Sokka discovered that his first love Princess Yue, had been married off by her father, Chief Arnook, to Hahn, a boy whose arrogance and ambition made him blind to anyone but himself."

The rejection in the old man's voice told Zuko that, even at that time, Pakku already had had his doubts about the Chief's choice for his daughter. Zuko could only shake his head in amazement as he thought about his own sister, the Fire Princess. The idea of Azula being trapped in the same powerless position as Water Princess Yue was of such ludicrousness that he couldn't possibly imagine it. He felt actually relieved that Katara had been born the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe.

As Zuko processed Master Pakku's words, the old waterbender had watched him with an attentive look. He seemed to understand Zuko's confusion. A small, bitter smile tugged at his lips. "This tradition even caused Kanna, my fiancée, to escape to the south, for she placed her freedom above the possible love for a man. Not wanting to understand her reasons for leaving, I stayed and contented myself in the safe knowledge it had been she who had discarded our long-standing traditions. The Southern Water Tribe girl who one day came to the North Pole and fiercely defied my decision to not let her into my class, therefore, couldn't been anyone else but Kanna's granddaughter. She changed the ways of the Northern Water Tribe, she changed me and eventually changed my life."

Pride crept into his voice as the old man recalled the actions of Katara, who now stared at the ground shyly. Zuko began to understand why Katara's grandfather adored his step-granddaughter. Because of her, he had found his happiness at last.

Master Pakku's gaze softened as he watched his granddaughter and when he continued, his tone had lost some of its sharpness. "That day she defied me, but she did not defeat me, for she was untrained and inexperienced. Today, however, she also defeated me." He paused. "She defeated me, because she made use of her knowledge of other bending styles to undermine my classical way of waterbending. Moreover, she made use of her knowledge of a bending style that is her natural and absolute opposite. This bending style is the hardest to learn, but when mastered the bender can only be defeated by the Avatars themselves."

His eyes wandered toward Zuko and he added with emphasis, "And her natural opposite managed to save his own life by making use of his knowledge of her bending style."

Zuko's mouth dropped when he realized what Katara's anxious reaction to Master Pakku's mumbling earlier had been all about. The old waterbender had ordered her to threaten Zuko's life to elicit a non-firebending move from him.

Master Pakku's lips curled in a gruff smile. "Yes, saved your life, because a firebender is weak when it comes to countless of projectiles aimed for him at once. A waterbender can call a huge wave of water, an earthbender can summon a wall of stone, but a firebender stands defenseless."

Zuko swallowed thickly as he cast a glance at Katara who now looked stubbornly at the ground, not daring to look him in the eye. She seemed to fear his reaction, but he knew that she really hadn't had a choice but to trust in her grandfather's judgment. He didn't blame her.

Katara felt awful and her rage against her grandfather flared up again. He had deliberately forced her to threaten the life of the only person in the world who could make her feel safe, at ease and happy... She froze when a hand landed lightly on her shoulder and pulled her slightly towards the object of her thoughts.

"You could just have asked, sifu Pakku…" she heard him say from above. His even voice held only a hint of a reproach. "…and I would have showed you anyway. There was no need to upset Katara."

Katara closed her eyes as relief washed over her.

_Always so protective of her..._

Master Pakku dug up a key from his parka and approached one of the humble igloos. "The reaction is understandable, even relieving..."

He turned around and his eyes stayed to rest on the young Fire Lord, his gaze softening as he spoke. "… but still wrong."

Then he threw open the door and stepped aside. "One day you will understand."

* * *

**A/N:** _I would like to thank you all for reading and reviewing the previous chapter! I'm really glad you liked that chapter and hope you'll like this chapter, too. It has some Zutara goodness in it and in this chapter I actually gave Mai her first lines ever in this story! _

_As always I would like to thank my beta for working up the patience to beta this incredibly long story. _

_In the upcoming Chapter 19 Master Pakku will reveal what the Order of the White Lotus is hiding in the new city of the Southern Water Tribe..._

_Until then!_


	19. Precious

**Fall of the White Lotus **

**Chapter 19: Precious**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Divine Intervention

* * *

The igloo appeared to be nothing more than that: a small, Antarctic house. It was empty but for a generic collection of furniture, which gave Katara the feeling that the pieces were only put in there so that unexpected visitors would be under the impression that someone lived here. She felt Zuko shift next to her, looking around like she did, waiting for something unexpected to happen.

But Master Pakku, who stood in front of a white fur decorating the southern wall, didn't give the house another look. He lifted his hands and a crack began to appear in the wall, which quickly grew into the form of a door that pushed aside the fur. Following a mere flick of Master Pakku's wrist the door opened slowly, as Katara and Zuko's eyes widened in astonishment. Then the old man simply disappeared through the entrance, assuming that the young people would follow him.

Zuko held back a sigh as he raised his one eyebrow and lowered the fur-trimmed hood of his parka. 'And into yet another dark hole we go,' he thought, thinking back of the Kyoshian underground temple as he took off one of his mittens and turned up his palm. A small flame appeared in it as he cast a look at Katara who smiled at him resignedly. Then they followed the old waterbender through the door, which slammed shut behind them.

For a moment, Zuko and Katara were disoriented as all sounds were cut off and they had to adjust themselves to the difference in air pressure. It was utterly dark but for the small flame Zuko was carrying, but when their eyes had adjusted a moment later their mouths fell open in surprise. They found themselves standing in a long, narrow corridor made of compacted snow, crowned by an arched, low ceiling. It was not possible to walk through the corridor any other way than one after another.

Master Pakku waited for his granddaughter and the Grandmaster's nephew catching up with him, the flickering fire bringing out the deep lines in his embittered face. Then he signaled toward the darkness lying before them.

"This is a secret corridor which leads to a secret, underground room belonging to the Order of the White Lotus." His voice sounded muffled in the narrow space. "When building this city, members of the Order of the White Lotus secretly added another layer to the outer walls into which they created this corridor. If the city ever were to come under attack again, this corridor will collapse immediately."

For a moment, the old man's gaze held Zuko's and the firebender winced slightly at the waterbender's use of the word 'again.' Because hadn't it been the Fire Nation which had wiped out the predecessor of this beautiful city? Zuko understood the enormous amount of courage Master Pakku now displayed by making him, the Fire Lord, privy to what probably was the biggest of all Order secrets. Here lay a huge responsibility for him to not betray the old man's confidence. Subconsciously, he balled his other fist until he felt a slight pressure through the fabric of his mitten. Katara. She'd noticed his anxiety and subtly took his hand to which his fingers almost automatically relaxed.

Master Pakku had silently watched the firebender to gauge his reaction and he had noticed the pained expression which momentarily flashed over Zuko's face when he mentioned the annihilation of the Southern Water Tribe by the Fire Nation. It prompted the old waterbender to give him a slightly reassuring nod.

"What does this corridor lead to, Gran-Pakku?" Katara then attracted the men's attention as she put her hand on the outer wall of the low corridor, feeling the ingenious construction behind it, as Master Pakku had just described.

Zuko and Katara both turned to look at the old waterbender expectantly and he closed his eyes for a split second. His reply was reluctant. "The heart of the Order."

* * *

In the hour that followed, they silently proceeded through the long and narrow corridor. Sometimes a gust of wind would make Zuko's flame flicker in his hand, indicating that the passageway's construction held some ingenious system for air supply.

As they followed Gran-Pakku, the snow crunching underneath their heavy boots, Katara noticed that there was a slight ascending slope in their path. They were heading for the palace, she suddenly realized. She wondered a little grimly what her father would say if he knew that his palace had been used by the Order of the White Lotus as a secret hiding place.

But she didn't have the time to dwell on that when Master Pakku halted abruptly and turned around. Zuko and Katara only barely managed to avoid bumping into him.

For a moment they were disoriented. "There's a wooden door," Zuko then noticed in surprise, knowing that these were a rarity on the South Pole, "and there are two lotus figures carved into it."

Master Pakku nodded in confirmation and signaled the young firebender to trade places with Katara. "Two waterbenders are needed to open this door. It's is made so that only the two of the initiated members of the Order or the Water Tribe Representative in the Black Lotus Council can open it. However..." He withdrew some water from his pouch and formed it into a lotus figure, motioning to Katara to do the same thing, "legend also tells that the waterbender who has made the Kyoshian White Lotus glow is able to open this door, too."

Zuko looked up with an speculative gleam in his eyes. "A legend?" Had it been foreseen then?

A thin, indulgent smile appeared on Master Pakku's face as he glanced at the young firebender. "Finally some perceptiveness. Soon, you will see what I mean."

Then he turned to his granddaughter again. "We haven't got all day, Katara."

Katara was startled out of her reverie. For a moment, her thoughts had strayed to that dreadful day when Aang had insisted on seeing those geysers. Subconsciously, she had created the image of the lotus flower, driven by some mysterious force guiding her hands and instilling the knowledge in the back of her memory. She realized that she had been practicing back then and somehow her Gran-Pakku knew about it. A shiver ran down her spine. She didn't like to be left in the dark while appearing to be a plaything of powers beyond her reach.

As she suppressed an irritated sigh, she opened her pouch and immediately created a perfect lotus figure to which Master Pakku nodded in approval. Together the waterbenders pushed the lotus shapes in the recesses of the heavy, wooden door. A blue light brightened the narrow corridor, then the door swung open.

Hesitantly, Zuko and Katara followed Master Pakku inside and looked around curiously. To their surprise, the space they entered was actually quite modest, nothing like the grand halls enclosed by slender pillars that marked the rest of the palace, or the underground Temple of the White Lotus on Kyoshi Island. Instead, the walls and ceiling were round, like the igloo housing the entrance to the secret corridor. The room was empty but for a plain open cabinet which seemed to contain lots of ancient scrolls. Though Katara and Zuko didn't see a fireplace, the room was pleasantly warm.

As their eyes wandered through the round space a soft glow that came from the middle of the room drew their attention. With a sideways look at Master Pakku, they carefully proceeded into the room and found that the mysterious glow was the source of both the pleasant temperature and the soft light in the room. Their eyes widened in amazement when the light dispersed enough for them to see some contours.

It was a flower. A white lotus flower. And it was blossoming.

Her petals were open, although it had already darkened outside the palace. It was as if the flower, before going to sleep, had awaited their coming. The petals seemed to glow softly in the clear and sparkling water the flower rested on, lovingly embraced by fresh green leafs.

At a loss for words, Katara and Zuko could only stare at the glowing flower, stunned by her ethereal beauty.

"This room, this igloo," Master Pakku broke the silence and his stern voice suddenly had a revering edge to it, "is the very heart of the Southern Water Tribe Royal Palace and in this room the Order of the White Lotus keeps the most precious of all of it treasures. The heart of our Order. A heavenly flower that was given to the Order thousands of years ago by the spirits when the world was still young. It was given to our Order in order to cherish it and keep it safe, for our fate is bound to this flower. The White Lotus."

"It's beautiful," Katara whispered and took a step closer. The light coming from the flower made her features glow silver as she leaned in to study the delicate petals.

"The White Lotus," Master Pakku continued, "is the reason for both the earthly and spiritual strength of the Order, making it impossible for human attempts to destroy it. She contains a substantial amount of spirit force. So much in fact, that the Spirit World would be hugely effected if harm were to ever come to this flower."

Master Pakku now pointed towards the elements supporting the heavenly flower. "Along with the White Lotus, the spirits have given us the attributes of the four nations; the granite bowl, symbol of the earthbenders which contains water from the Spirit Oasis, symbol of the waterbenders. And in a ring around the flower a sample of the eternal flame, symbol of the firebenders, which is both carried by and fueled by the four winds, symbol of the airbenders. These attributes are legendary to the peoples they represent and they are of incalculable value."

A sudden movement next to Katara made both of the waterbenders look up and turn their heads. Zuko had taken a few steps closer to the flower. The light of the fire reflected in his golden eyes.

"The Flame of the Phoenix..." Zuko whispered disbelievingly. "I thought it was just a legend..."

He bowed toward the dancing flame as it burned just above the granite bowl, in a perfect circle. "It's a myth about the powerful flame, which has been the symbol of our nation since time immemorial," he started to tell no one in particular, somehow feeling the need to voice the stories that he had been told when growing up as a rush of excitement went through him. "The legends tell that when in Fire Nation possession, the Flame of the Phoenix would grant powers even beyond the strength drawn from the Great Comet to the one who rules the nation."

Katara sucked in her breath sharply as his husky voice trailed away and he took another step closer to the flower. But to her surprise Master Pakku did nothing to call back the firebender. Zuko's fascination for the small ring of fire unnerved her and she had to fight the urge to pull him away and protect him from the flame. But as long as Master Pakku, who watched him attentively, left him to his own devices, she didn't dare to try and step between him and this force of attraction.

Relieved, she let go of her breath when her grandfather finally spoke up. "Regiments of Fire Lords have searched for the flame you're now watching Zuko, but the Order has always made sure it would not be found," the old man remarked a bit warily and with emphasis. "The fire, like the other attributes, is essential for the White Lotus to survive. It provides warmth and keeps the air current going, assuring the flow of fresh air. If they had found the Flame of the Phoenix, the Fire Lords would have destroyed the Order and with it probably the world in their thirst for power."

For a moment, none of the three people in the secret room moved, then Zuko looked up. His gaze cut through Katara's soul.

"Even without that, that's something they almost succeeded in," he mumbled bitterly and took a step backwards to put more distance between him and the circle of flames. He wanted nothing to do with any ambitions previous Fire Lords might have had in a desire for more power.

The fierce look that had appeared in his eyes did not go by unnoticed by Master Pakku, who realized that his constant wariness of the young Fire Lord had proved unnecessary yet again. The young man had shown himself to be intelligent, even wise for his age, thoughtful, reliable and, most importantly, incredibly loyal towards his granddaughter. Maybe the Grandmaster wasn't as credulous as he had thought him to be.

"Gran-Pakku..." Katara then changed the subject, drawing both men's attentions toward her, "how did the flower come here? I mean she can't have been here for long. This place is brand new."

Master Pakku nodded. "That's right. She wasn't. In fact, the city of Omashu had been the home of the White Lotus for more than a thousand years. The White Lotus was brought there shortly after the city came into existence."

"Omashu!" Zuko and Katara both exclaimed in surprise. The city of balance, Iroh had called it. How long ago had it been that they were leaning against the railing of the palace garden terrace and looked at the thousands of lights on the dozens of terraces beneath them?

"The history of Omashu as a city is unparalleled," Master Pakku stated. "Omashu was created after a devastating war between two rivaling tribes as the outcome of the love between two people, each belonging to one of these warring villages. A city of balance, created to let the people of both groups live in peace. A city made for the White Lotus."

Involuntarily, Zuko looked down at the young woman standing next to him who had listened to her grandfather with a knowing expression in her blue eyes. He had never heard of the story of Omashu before and he felt strangely moved as his gaze rested on Katara's dark brown curls. It sparked a little hope as a feeling of recognition coursed through him.

"However," Pakku, who had his back turned towards them, continued, "when the Fire Nation attacked Omashu and it became clear the city wouldn't stand, the initiated members of the Order readied themselves to have the White Lotus leave the city as quickly as possible. It was a sad day," he concluded a little bitterly.

Zuko set his jaw and averted his gaze from the crown of Katara's head as he realized that, despite the hopeful feeling from before, the legend of Omashu shouldn't - couldn't mean more for him than this - a legend.

Katara noticed when Zuko took a step back, putting more distance between them. She turned to look at him, surprised by the bitterness she sensed with him, but he avoided her questioning gaze as he instead stared stubbornly at the flame that surrounded the White Lotus.

Rolling her eyes and unable to understand, Katara shrugged and followed his gaze. Then, as she let her gaze on the flickering flames, a realization drew her attention from the sudden change in Zuko's demeanor. "But... Isn't it true that the flame, when taken away, can only be maintained by a firebender?"

Master Pakku smiled genuinely at his prodigy pupil. "Clever... During the attack of Omashu, there were virtually no firebenders present in the city of balance, but for one young lady dressed in white who carried the Flame of the Phoenix to its temporary hiding place. She was accompanied by nine helpers who never moved from her side. They made sure the members of the Order got out of the city unseen."

As his old voice trailed away Katara's eyes widened in shock. "The Spirit Princess," she whispered and she put her hand before her mouth. "She was real!"

"She was a firebender."

Katara turned to look at her traveling companion and noticed the spark of interest in his golden eyes, which expelled the somberness that had inhabited them before. As she nodded wordlessly, she felt a little relieved. Somehow, it had felt as if the dark clouds above his head had something to do with her.

Master Pakku nodded sternly. "Open-mindedness is the key to the solution of your quest, students of the Grandmaster. The woman you know as the Spirit Princess offered her help when the initiated firebending member had died the winter before. After the end of the war, she and the other members of the Order carried the attributes representing their nations to the South Pole, where a new city was being built by cooperating members of formerly rivaling sister tribes. Here, she would find a new home."

He let his gaze rest on Zuko but the young man didn't react. His conflicted expression betrayed that he was still pondering about the objectionable part the Fire Nation had played in the forced flight of the White Lotus from her home. He clearly felt guilty.

Master Pakku smiled slyly and went to stand next to the White Lotus. "Zuko, I can see the cruelties the Fire Nation have inflicted on the world, are a leaden burden for you. Maybe you put too heavy a weight on your shoulders."

The young firebender shook his head in denial. He already knew his limits and responsibilities as the descendant of Fire Lord Sozin. He had already reconciled with the fact that his reign was to forever revolve around the aftermath of the war and a never ceasing effort to regain a position of trust in the world in the hope that one day his successor would not be looked upon with fear anymore. It would be an exercise in humility.

Master Pakku's eyes narrowed and an understanding smile ghosted over his lips for a moment when he saw Zuko's grave expression. "I thought so. Now then, would you be so kind to take and hold the Flame of the Phoenix for a moment."

Zuko's eyes widened. His gaze flickered to the White Lotus, glowing peacefully in her resting place. "What? Why? Won't that harm the flower?"

Horrifying thoughts about what could happen to the lotus if he let the fire go out went through his head. Although the young Fire Lord had become a Master firebender after the end of the war and nowadays was probably the most powerful firebender in the world together with his uncle, clumsiness always had been part of his nature.

"I wouldn't suggest it if I thought it would endanger the reason for the Order's existence," Katara's grandfather said coolly, although with a hint of mockery in his voice that subtly put Zuko in place.

A rare blush rushed to the firebender's cheeks, before he took a step towards the White Lotus. He noticed Katara's encouraging nod before he took in a deep breath and carefully withdrew the fire from its orbit around the White Lotus. Smoothly, the flame wandered into the palm of his hand. There, it changed into a regular flame, shining brightly. It was still surrounded by the air current that had followed the flame.

For a moment, the intensity of the glow around the flower weakened and Zuko's eyes widened in panic, but then it stabilized and became steady in his hand. Zuko's features softened as he watched the small flame in his palm, the light reflecting in his golden eyes. He was holding the Flame of the Phoenix. A power beyond imagination emanated from the flames. An exciting power that made him feel more alive than ever before. This fire was taken from the eternal fire, which was still secretly hidden in the ancient city of the Firebending Masters, now enhanced with the ethereal strength of the Spirit World.

The ancient Fire Lords had been right, the flame was powerful and, as much as he hated it, he understood their obsessive search for this legendary artifact. He felt it in his body. The firebender who controlled this fire, controlled the world. The power of the small flame in the palm of his hands was ten times as much as that of Sozin's Comet. A shiver went through his body despite the pleasant atmosphere inside the room. Zuko closed his eyes to the flickering flame that seemed to call out to him to be bent to his will, the will of a firebender, the will of the Fire Lord.

But almost immediately he realized that the flame in his hands was only one part of this mysterious unity of elements that supported the White Lotus from the Spirit World. As his lips subconsciously curled in a smile, he saw clearly how much the delicate flower needed its warmth for her survival.

All at once, Zuko felt grateful that the fire, a symbol of his nation, could actually be useful for something so pure and noble as the White Lotus. It had been too long since fire had been associated with something good. An indescribable feeling of peacefulness descended on him. And he knew that the Fire Lords of old had been wrong about one thing: the flame would be infinitely more powerful if it stayed where it belonged.

Outside Zuko's view an unusually bright smile had broken through on Master Pakku's stern features, as he watched the flame nestle comfortably in the firebender's pale hands.

"You see," Master Pakku then said rather gently, "there is something I haven't told you yet about the four elements supporting the lotus flower. When the spirits gave the elemental attributes to the world, a very special restriction was placed upon those who could carry the attributes. So it is, that the fire which now rests in Zuko's hands can only be carried by a descendent of a firebending Avatar."

A poignant silence descended upon the three people in the round space as Zuko looked up. But to Master Pakku's surprise, Zuko's otherwise calm gaze merely expressed his wonder about the strange restriction. Then the old waterbender realized that he knew. The Grandmaster must already have told his nephew about his special heritage. For once, he was surprised by his fellow councilor's foresight.

There was still someone in the room, however, who didn't know...

"What?"

A shrill voice rang through the room, utterly bewildered. Katara's eyes shot from Zuko to her grandfather and back again.

She could hardly believe her ears as she stared at her quiet traveling companion with wide eyes. The flickering fire of the Flame of the Phoenix cast shadows across his pale, handsome features and messy black hair. His eyes seemed to burn in the golden light. The Fire Lord who, as he stood there holding the small flame, fulfilled one of his ancestor's greatest goals, without wishing for it for himself.

Of course, Katara already knew that he was a descendent of a long line of power thirsty kings, of Fire Lord Sozin himself, who had abandoned his best friend Avatar Roku and left him to die in his quest for world domination. From this point of departure she had considered all of his actions, all he was. But her grandfather's words now knocked the air out of her as they added a totally new dimension to her friend and once again she was forced to see Zuko in a different light.

Could the heir of frightful Fire Lords also be a descendent of the Avatar? Her former enemy who had hunted the Avatar for dear life, a son of Avatars himself... It couldn't be.

Zuko's gaze met hers and his golden eyes shone with some melancholy as he explained, "I'm Avatar Roku's great-grandson. Princess Ursa, my mother, is his granddaughter."

Katara sucked in her breath sharply and took a step back at yet another surprise concerning Zuko's lineage. Never before had she wondered about Zuko's mother, her origins, her heritage. It had all been about his father and the Fire Lords before him. All she knew about the Princess was that she was a kindhearted woman, who had given up her freedom, her family, to save her son. And now the woman they were looking for, who had been the reason for them to undertake this journey, Zuko's mother, was revealed as a granddaughter of Avatar Roku. "No…"

"Is it so hard to believe?" Zuko whispered, and a little sadness crept into his quiet voice as he let his golden eyes trail her confused features.

The hurt in his eyes felt like a stab in Katara's chest and she looked up at him in regret. Even when guarded, like now, his gaze was kind and even tender, as it always was when Zuko looked at her. And she knew that this soft gaze wasn't inherited from the ambitious and ruthless Sozin, but from a more gentle person, kindhearted for Fire Nation standards. A person who had loved a woman whose features had mirrored her own face despite differences in origins and time...

A smile broke through her tense features. "Actually... no."

Hesitantly, he mirrored her smile as Katara looked at him thoughtfully. This sure clarified a few more things about him, being burdened with such a conflicting heritage. He was a son of kings and Avatars. This even put his father's violent punishment of his son in a different light. In hindsight, Katara finally fully understood the importance of Zuko's decision to join them after the disaster of Day of Black Sun. He had allowed for Avatar Roku to defeat Fire Lord Sozin after all. It was a humbling and deeply touching realization. And Katara bowed, Fire Nation style, to Zuko, great-grandson of Avatar Roku.

Master Pakku had been watching Katara's move and Zuko's almost shy reaction to it with an unreadable look in his eyes. Then he nodded imperceptibly.

"The White Lotus has been waiting for you to arrive. When she was put in the care of the Order in ancient times, an evil prophecy was given by the spirits as well. They foresaw that in the far future, one of the nations would seriously damage the balance in the world by inflicting a terrible act upon one of the other nations. But when this threat would be appeased by people of a new generation, another, more dangerous threat to the Order would arise, which was to be partly caused, but also to be warded off by, two of the young people involved with restoring the balance in the world.

"The prophecy was passed down verbally for many generations until centuries ago, an earthbending Grandmaster wrote it down in the scrolls we keep inside the cabinet. You can't read them, they are too fragile and are only to be touched by specialized Order members." Master Pakku shook his head at Zuko and Katara's gazes.

"It was said that the young people able to save the White Lotus and her Order, were to be of the most opposite of all four elements in which lies the core of the problem as well as the key to the solution. They were also to be involved closely with the Avatar. Only those two who were recognized by the Southern Lights and who would be able to make the lotus flower appear in the Kyoshian temple of the Order would be allowed to see the White Lotus herself. Grandmaster Iroh believes and…"

For a moment he fell silent, then he continued on a softer tone, "I agree with him, that you two must be the young people the prophecy speaks of."

It sounded like a confession from an old man who had fought the inevitable for so long, but now had to admit defeat. But underneath this, Zuko and Katara heard something else. A certain hope, as if Master Pakku really had come to believe in their quest. When they looked at each other, they saw the relief they felt at this mirrored in the other's eyes.

Then Master Pakku gestured slowly towards the flower. "So, now it's time for what you came here for. I want to ask you to take a look into the heart of the heart."

Zuko and Katara followed the outstretched forefinger and, almost on their own accord, their feet brought them closer to the lotus flower in the middle of the room. Hesitantly, they bent over and…

A peaceful tranquility came to rest over them as a soft blanket, as they stared into the heart of the flower. The glow of the White Lotus, until then only a sparkle on her petals, suddenly extended to fill the whole room. Without words being spoken, Zuko and Katara knew that the flower welcomed them. And then they forgot all about time and place, drifting into thousands of colors between worlds they knew, worlds they only had been aware of subconsciously and worlds they had no knowledge of.

Despite himself, Master Pakku was awestruck at the sight that unfolded before his cold, blue eyes. In front of him, the White Lotus, which he only knew as a softly glowing flower, lifted off the veil that always shrouded her brilliance, showing her real strength and power. And it was overwhelming. With wide eyes he saw his beloved granddaughter as well as his Grandmaster's nephew disappear in the bright, stinging light. He witnessed how Zuko wrapped his arm around Katara's shoulder, pulling her tightly against him, while she slid her arm around his waist. Then the bright light totally absorbed them.

* * *

It was only seconds later, but it seemed hours to the three people present, that the light retreated and returned to the white flower and the young benders appeared from the glow. As their silhouettes were still fading into the softening light, Master Pakku saw that they bowed graciously to the White Lotus, their palms turned upwards in an open gesture. The secret bow used by the initiated of the Order of the White Lotus, which no Order member had ever taught them. Then the flower closed her petals entirely. She had gone to sleep at last.

Slowly, Zuko and Katara turned around to Master Pakku who still stood rooted to his spot. Their eyes shone unusually bright in their faces.

"You are members now," Master Pakku finally spoke, his voice as strained as his eyes, which were still staring at them in astonishment, wide in realization."The White Lotus herself has initiated you..."

"And she has told us far more than we, as apprentices, would ever have dared to expect," Zuko supplied.

New depths shone in his golden eyes with wisdom the White Lotus had shared with them and, as Zuko met with Master Pakku's gaze, the astonished waterbender witnessed a sudden strong resemblance to Grandmaster Iroh in his nephew's features.

Katara smiled, a knowing smile, all confusion washed away from her face. "It's time to prevent the fall of the White Lotus, Gran-Pakku. We have to go look for the Spirit Princess. And we have to hurry."

Master Pakku nodded wordlessly and hastened towards the door, not seeing Zuko and Katara turn back to see the sleeping white lotus for the last time. Zuko put his arm around Katara and she touched his hand before they followed Master Pakku outside.

* * *

**A/N:** _Now we finally know what Master Pakku has been hiding among the Southern Water Tribe what Uncle Iroh wanted Zuko and Katara to see._ _The Flame of the Phoenix is a reference to the title Fire Lord Ozai adorned himself with as an example of his new, unparalleled power._

_I want to thank all of you who have reviewed the previous chapter (I love reading them!) and my beta Lieta for her patience through busy schedules and virus infected computers._

_Until next time!_


	20. Caught

**Fall of the White Lotus **

**Chapter 20: Caught**

Music: Thomas Bergersen, Gift of Life

* * *

"You did the right thing, Twinkle Toes," Toph said as they watched the dark spot disappear into the distance. Her bangs billowed softly in the chilly afternoon wind.

"I know." Aang took her small hand in his and squeezed it gently at her words. When he followed her back inside, though, his eyes remained fixed on the horizon until the door clicked shut.

* * *

An icy wind blew through the white streets of the Southern Water Tribe capitol, as dark clouds hurried on in the restless sky. Even the last remnants of the hazy daylight were dimmed to nightly shades while the colors of the city changed from crystal clear to baleful grey.

Standing on a high terrace of the ice palace, his dark brown hair pulled into a warrior's wolf tail, was Hakoda. His sky blue parka billowed in the wind while he looked on in silence as, into the smaller courtyard below him, three figures emerged from a small door he'd never noticed before. His eyes narrowed as he recognized his stepfather, Katara and Zuko. The tall firebender stayed a foot behind Hakoda's daughter, shielding her with his body against the bleak polar wind.

Master Pakku looked around with a guarded, searching gaze in his eyes. As he stepped back into the shadows, knowing from experience that only a very attentive one could see him standing, there, an inescapable feeling of déjà vu stole over the Chief.

His thoughts trailed to his beloved Kya, who should have been standing beside him now as his Chiefess and probably would have admonished him for spying on the children. The corners of his lips twitched in a bitter smile. A lot had changed in the past nine years.

Thanks to Hakoda's leadership during the war and his inventiveness in general, the chieftain of one little Southern Water Tribe village, had become Chief of the restored Southern Water Tribe. And from all corners of the Antarctic coast the inhabitants of scattered, small, miserable villages had returned to the bay where the remnants of the capital of their tribe still rested under a layer of snow. In the years that followed they had built the brilliant city that had become a symbol of the Southern Water Tribe's remarkable resilience. The tribe was strengthened by the members of their northern sister tribe who had followed in Master Pakku's wake to start a new life on the South Pole. They were welcomed with open arms.

For three years Hakoda had been their Chief now and as the city rose from the white plains surrounding the bay, Hakoda had determinedly led his people into a new, hopeful future for the Southern Water Tribe. He was respected by the northerners and loved by the southerners. Master Pakku and his waterbenders had built him a palace worthy of a Water Tribe Chief and every day he had seen the city flourish and grow around him as it rose from the ashes of the old city the Fire Nation had demolished several decades ago. The city had become even grander than its predecessor. It did Hakoda good to see prosperity return to his people with each day passing, when it had forsaken his lands for so long.

Though he was grateful for the tribe's progress, a growing worry weighed down his heart, which had him climb the high city walls once a week and turn his gaze north. As the view of the vast polar ocean spread out before him, his thoughts would wander off to times long gone, when he would sit in his tent, surrounded by his family. A pained expression would pass over his features as he thought about the daughter whom he nowadays seldom saw.

Six solstices passed and Hakoda kept searching the skies for a black spot rushing towards the Southern Water Tribe, hoping for Katara to come visit her homelands. He was rarely rewarded.

The feeling of loss from his daughter's absence, however, was subdued by the pride he felt for his goofy son, who had grown so quickly into his new role. Sokka had taken on the responsibility for rebuilding the city with surprising dignity and authority. Master Pakku and his step-grandson had made a brilliant design for the city planning, while Sokka also busied himself with inventions and innovations to enhance the splendor of the city under construction. Innovations he based on his extensive traveling experience.

Hakoda was impressed by the way his son handled the separation from Suki, the Kyoshi Warrior whom Hakoda respected greatly and had recognized as the love of Sokka's life. Despite his apparent loneliness, Sokka waited patiently, respecting her wish to help the Kyoshians strengthen their defenses. Most of his free time was spent on training his sword fighting with a skilled, young sword fighter from their northern sister tribe. With iron discipline they practiced their art into perfection and they had become good friends.

Yes, life undoubtedly had changed for the better for the Southern Water Tribe. The tribe had been on the brink of extinction but it had been given back its vitality and the glistening new city mirrored the inhabitants' trust in the future.

Nevertheless, Hakoda knew that Sokka would sometimes take one of his canoes and peddle toward open sea, to catch a fish for the Chief's table. It wasn't only for old times' sake that his son ventured out at sea alone, but also to gaze to the northeast, where he hoped to see an Earth Kingdom ship that would bring to the South Pole a strong young woman with bright blue eyes and short, auburn strands. Last time he had gone to visit Kyoshi Island, the warrior had accepted Sokka's marriage proposal. Hakoda was glad. He already loved her as a daughter and he knew that she would make a fine Chiefess someday. The Chief also doubted the Kyoshians would be able to restrain their warriors' fiery leader much longer from following her heart. A fancy new title wouldn't do the trick, he knew. Also, her talents would not be wasted on the Southern Water Tribe, which had always treasured its female warriors. Hakoda had secretly started to hope for grandchildren.

Yes, Sokka would be all right. He had found his place in the world and Hakoda was proud to see him growing in his role with each new day. But about his daughter, Katara, he wasn't so sure.

As popular as Sokka was with the tribe for his charming nature and inventiveness, Hakoda knew that Katara was actually revered by his people. As the teacher of the Avatar and the one who had set into motion the fall of the Fire Nation tyranny by freeing a little boy from an iceberg, she was more than just one of the Young War Heroes; she was like the Avatar himself.

It hadn't brought her much joy, though. The scarce times Hakoda had walked through the city with Katara, he had witnessed the sadness in her eyes as she looked around, her gaze gliding over the igloo shaped houses as she nodded only faintly to the many people who greeted her enthusiastically.

Tentatively, Hakoda had asked her about it when they had reached the highest point on the city walls from where they had a breathtaking view on the sea. It was the same point where he returned to ever since.

But Katara's expression had darkened at his question and for a moment he had been afraid she would dismiss him.

Hakoda was surprised though when she bowed her head and responded in a moment of complete honesty, "I'm sad because I'm walking through the city of the Southern Water Tribe and I feel like a stranger in it. I'm the only southern waterbender left in the world and I haven't been able to contribute anything to the construction of our city."

The genuine grief in her voice had cut through his heart and Hakoda drew his daughter in a comforting embrace, which she didn't refuse.

He had thought about this moment ever since she'd left the South Pole after her last visit and he started to see Aang in a different light. At first, Hakoda had been glad with his daughter's choice for the young Avatar, a kindhearted boy who obviously cared deeply for Katara. It had seemed a good idea for her to go on her journey with him, allowing her, the one who had carried most of the weight of the responsibility for Aang's success, to be completely carefree for a while.

But three years had passed since Appa had disappeared on the horizon and, in the rare moments they'd paid the South Pole a visit, Hakoda had seen his daughter and Aang change.

He clearly remembered those times: the sharp, metallic tone of a boy's voice changing to male pitches, urging Katara to get ready for their next destination while they had arrived only two days earlier. There was always an impenetrable rain forest in the Earth Kingdom or a remote, snowy mountain in Air Nomad territory that needed to be visited by the day after tomorrow. With sadness in his heart Hakoda had witnessed his daughter leaving reluctantly. A new burden seemed to weigh down on her shoulders as she climbed the white bison and it grew worse every time she visited the Southern Water Tribe.

And then, when the days grew shorter again, indicating the upcoming end of yet another year in peace, an unexpected letter had arrived. Hakoda had been surprised to discover it was from General Iroh, the old Fire Nation Prince who lived in Ba Sing Se nowadays, enjoying his teashop. The letter announced Katara's arrival on the South Pole shortly thereafter and only the characters depicting the name of the person she would be traveling with distracted him from the joy he'd felt. Because written in the letter in an elegant, old-fashioned handwriting was not the name of Aang - the bouncy Avatar, but Zuko - the Fire Lord. The quiet young man with the angry scar, who had helped Sokka save him from the Boiling Rock.

Hakoda remembered the first time he had met with the young firebender. He had noticed the agility and strength with which the teenager had moved through the chaotic crowds in the prison courtyard, preparing for their escape during the riot, which that enormous prisoner had started. A skilled fighter, Hakoda's experienced eye had noticed immediately, and fiercely dedicated.

He had been surprised when Sokka had told him that the boy helping them out was in fact the Fire Lord's son. But, when the boy stood before him, a little tired and pale from the time he'd spent in a prison cell and dressed poorly in his faded prison clothes, Hakoda had seen the kindness and honesty in the golden eyes, skulking behind the messy hair and fiery scar. Later on, he had indeed proved himself very different from his tyrannical father and he was glad that he and Sokka had remained good friends after the ending of the war.

The last time he had seen Zuko had been during his own inauguration as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. The new Fire Lord had been a remarkable guest, one of the few dots of red in a mostly blue and green colored crowd. He didn't seem to mind, however, that he was treated with a certain caution by the other guests.

Zuko wasn't as outgoing as Sokka and rather kept to himself as he let his eyes wander over the crowd with an unreadable gaze in them. He had remained standing for almost the entire evening, surrounded by the small group of Fire Nation courtiers accompanying their Lord. Only his bubbly uncle, who had intensely enjoyed the festivities around him, had sometimes drawn a reserved smile to the young man's lips, softening his features. When he had participated in a dance with Mai, a negative, somber noble girl whom, for reasons unfathomable to Hakoda, was Zuko's girlfriend, it had been reluctantly. The only other times he had danced had been with Katara.

They had participated in a beautiful Fire Nation dance that drew some carefully hidden passion from Zuko as he had led her through the swift, energetic movements. Until then, Zuko had succeeded in staying unnoticed by the female bystanders who had mostly been ogling the charming and flamboyant Sokka, but now Katara received numerous envious stares as Zuko spun her around and smiled at her. Almost naturally, Zuko and Katara had lingered on the dance floor when the Fire Nation dance had ended and Katara had taught Zuko the Water Tribe dance that followed, a common dance, which he had either picked up very easily, or secretly already knew. They had been talking and laughing while they performed the intricate patterns to the cheerful melodies. It had been a good evening, full of promise for the future.

It was with fear in his heart that Hakoda had awaited Katara's arrival after receiving General Iroh's letter, afraid of what this mission that was forced upon her had done to her already fragile state. Hakoda knew that in the past the young Fire Lord had done a great deal to help Katara over the loss of her mother. From what little he knew about the disappearance of Princess Ursa, he suspected there was some similarity in the way both young people had lost these very important persons in their lives and had bonded over this. It seemed as if General Iroh's appeal to that forgotten bond had persuaded his daughter into leaving everything behind instantly to undertake this journey. And it worried him. Especially since he'd noticed that Master Pakku seemed particularly unhappy with the young firebender.

As the Water Tribe ship had entered the harbor, Hakoda had anxiously watched the two people standing on deck. Their heavy black cloaks had billowed softly in the wind. Katara seemed to lean slightly into her companion as if she was drawing support from his presence.

But, to Hakoda's infinite relief he had seen that his daughter's eyes, although brimming with tears, had gleamed with a brightness that he hadn't seen from her in a very long time and a healthy color had replaced the weary paleness. The grateful expression in Zuko's gaze when he spotted Katara's family couldn't have been more different than Aang's eager restlessness, which had him always fixed on the next destination. And before his sight was blurred by a flash of water bringing his daughter into his arms, Hakoda had thought: he's bringing her home.

During dinner Hakoda had continued studying Katara's demeanor minutely and had felt his worry for her slowly subside. Naturally, she was tired from her boat trip and seemed anxious for some reason, taking peeks at Zuko from under her lashes when she thought no one was looking. But, at the same time she sat up straight, relaxed somehow, liberated from the invisible burden, which had been weighing her down for three years. She seemed genuinely glad to be home and the relief he'd felt about that had allowed for his humor to return and twitch his lips at the unusual appearance of the Fire Lord sitting next to her.

If he were honest with himself, Hakoda had felt apprehensive about Zuko accompanying his daughter on this mysterious journey, because of Pakku's obvious distrust of the young man. But, Master Pakku had always been far more protective of Hakoda's daughter than Hakoda himself and Hakoda had felt his doubt toward Zuko disappear upon seeing the change that had taken place in his daughter. Somehow, the young firebender had been able to retrieve the real Katara from the shadows of her weariness and he felt grateful for that.

So, he had detained Zuko after dinner, offering him a place among his own children whenever he might be looking for good advice in matters he couldn't debate with his uncle. It had been heartwarming to see those golden eyes light up in surprise as Zuko shyly took his offer.

And Hakoda had smiled when the young firebender had left the dining room, because if his feelings didn't betray him on the matter, he had also sensed there was one matter Zuko wouldn't, couldn't consult him about.

With slight relief, Hakoda looked down at the three people below, glad to know them to be safe. Apparently, Master Pakku had succumbed to General Iroh's request to help Katara and Zuko on their mysterious quest. A quest Hakoda still didn't know what to make of.

The old man had been reluctant to acquiesce to his Grandmaster's request, but in the mean time begrudgingly acknowledged the need to do so. He had resented the young people's task of finding Princess Ursa, though, as ridiculously sentimental and an emotional trap for his granddaughter.

When he asked his mother about it, Kanna had advised Hakoda that he did best to not underestimate Master Pakku's love for either his granddaughter or his Order. It had him think about the nature of this mission as he remembered Master Pakku muttering under his breath while folding the parchment with angry movements, "They are not ready. How dare he put the Order in danger like that?"

Although he'd tried to understand, Hakoda still couldn't grasp the link between the missing Fire Princess and the Order of the White Lotus. But the matter had awoken a memory with him.

* * *

It had been an early summer night when sleep couldn't catch him and he had been standing at exactly the same the spot where he was standing now. The night had been relatively warm and the moon was completely veiled by clouds when he went out without his parka, savoring the cool breeze on his skin underneath the silk shirt.

As his eyes had wandered over the sleeping city, his gaze was drawn to a silhouette appearing on the courtyard below him. He had been surprised to recognize Master Pakku, who had been glancing around guardedly.

Subconsciously, Hakoda had taken a step backwards, knowing he had been witness to something that wasn't meant for anyone to see and motionlessly, he waited, wondering what his stepfather would be doing down there at this untimely hour.

Master Pakku had been standing still, his eyes fixed on the small gate leading to one of the minor entrances to the palace. He was waiting, too. Finally, Hakoda saw a soft glow appear at the gate, its shine becoming stronger when it drew nearer.

Then he'd noticed them: the small group of people, men and women, all dressed in dark blue robes with white collars. The Order of the White Lotus. Hakoda studied them as they approached Master Pakku in a very rapid, noiseless pace and bowed their heads in respect for him when they'd reached him.

The young man at the front carried a carved, wooden box that was the source of the glowing, and Hakoda had felt a strange sense of peace coming over him as his eyes rested on the mysterious object. The silent people behind the young man all seemed to radiate some of the glow, originating from the small box. They looked like spirits descended from the Spirit World into his courtyard, carrying several attributes with them.

Hakoda had narrowed his eyes at the sight. It seemed as if they were each holding a part of each of the four elements.

He noticed a granite bowl in a sturdy earthbender's hands, and an old Northern Water Tribe woman with wrinkled features carried a string of glistening water.

Then his gaze lingered upon a pale, younger woman with silky, ink black hair and almond eyes, who carried a small flame that seemed to flicker in an artificial air current that was fueled by the flame. She had a quiet and elegant demeanor, as she gently held the flame in her hands, watching it with tender devotion and concentration. The soft line of her cheekbones gave her a kind look. She was a firebender, Hakoda then had realized in shock. And probably a noble, too.

For a moment, Hakoda contemplated the possibility of revealing himself to the little procession below, to confront the old waterbender with the fact that he had caught him while using the palace for something that obviously wasn't for the Chief to know. But something in the serious, almost revering expression on their faces had held him back as an inexplicable feeling of fear came over him for what would happen if he stepped into Pakku's view.

So, Hakoda had remained in the shadows of his hiding place and Master Pakku had continued to direct the people towards the door he had appeared from earlier that night.

Forming a small string of people, the men and women then entered the palace as they followed the old waterbender. Hakoda kept watching the woman holding the flame as she approached the hidden door. Her silky black hair sometimes billowed in the air current streaming around the flame, making it look like she was actually bending two elements. A disconnected thought pushed to the forefront of Hakoda's mind: perhaps this is how Master Pakku solved the problem of not having an airbender to his disposal. Dismissively, he shook his head and his eyes followed the source of the glow as it disappeared inside. The absence of the glow left behind a hollow feeling inside of him, which Hakoda couldn't explain.

He shivered and fixed his eyes on the glowing people disappearing inside one by one, until the woman carrying the fire looked up and Hakoda met with a soft, slightly melancholy gaze. Hakoda had frozen under the sudden eye contact and as they stared at each other he noticed that her eyes had glistened with a hint of laughter. It was as if the firebender secretly found it humorous that Pakku's very secret operation was discovered by the Chief who watched them silently as they intruded into his home. Her lips had subtly curled up in a slight, grateful smile directed at the tall, dark silhouette standing on the terrace above and finally Hakoda had smiled back at her.

Then she had disappeared inside as well.

* * *

Now, Hakoda recognized the slight glow radiating from Katara and Zuko as the same glow surrounding those mysterious Order members, back then.

He also noticed a distinct change about them, as if all insecurity, so characteristic for young people, seemed to have washed away, replaced by a new calm and determination. Whatever it had been Master Pakku had showed them - in fact didn't have a choice but showing them - whatever Master Pakku kept hidden in his palace, had changed his daughter and the Fire Lord for good.

Evening was falling and snowflakes started to whirl down, as the wind was growing stronger. As Hakoda mused about the differences in Katara and Zuko's appearances, the faint sound of a bell tolling reached the palace, and Hakoda looked up with watchful eyes.

He knew the meaning of the sound. This night the harbor would shut down for all ships trying to reach the South Pole and for the next few months, the Southern Water Tribe would be closed off from the rest of the world.

At that moment, Zuko looked up to the darkening sky, his eyes looking past Hakoda in shock, as Master Pakku seemed to explain the grim meaning of the bell tolling, namely that they were trapped in the Southern Water Tribe.

Hakoda's stomach dropped. Looking up at him was a pair of almond eyes, soft, despite the shocked expression in them. They were set in a pale face, the soft line of the cheekbones framed by silky, ink black hair. Hakoda took a step backwards as realization inescapably dawned on him.

"No," he whispered in shock, "it can't be."

"Is that so?" An old voice croaked quietly behind him and he spun around to see his mother smiling amusedly.

"Why haven't I noticed before?" Hakoda asked, his eyes still wide.

Kanna looked at him with humor in her folded eyes. "Ah, perceptiveness. I would say all destinies are intertwined at this point and nothing is coincidence. Now come."

Suddenly, her voice turned stern. "My daughter-in-law surely wouldn't have approved of you spying on the children."

* * *

Katara felt the bleak wind blow her hair into her face, the strands cutting into her already cold skin as she turned around. It had felt as if someone had been looking at them, but when she looked up she could see nothing but darkness.

As she ducked into her parka, Katara heard the faint sound of a bell starting to toll, far away, in the harbor. Only fragments of the sound reached the palace, carried by the wind. She narrowed her eyes and wondered what the bell was about. She'd never heard it before.

But Master Pakku frowned and his expression grew rigid when the vague tones reached his ears.

"This is not good," he stated and for the first time in her life Katara heard a certain agitation in her grandfather's voice. "The bell indicates that the harbor is being closed off for the winter. Nobody can get in or out of the city anymore. Not until spring."

Zuko and Katara's eyes widened in shock. Speechlessly, they looked at each other, panic taking over as they realized what this meant. They were trapped at the South Pole.

Even if Zuko could manage to get a message to the nearest Fire Nation trading post, it would take weeks for the firebenders to melt their way toward the city. By then, winter would already have arrived and it would be too late. The Order of the White Lotus would fall, with effects unknown to the world.

In utter panic, Zuko looked up at the raging sky. His golden eyes stared unseeingly into the dark grey nothing, as he tried to control his horror. It was over. All had been for nothing. It didn't matter anymore that Aang had defeated the Fire Lord. The Order of the White Lotus was lost. And as his face contorted in agony, he knew that this would also mean the end of his journey with Katara.

The snowfall quickly became a snowstorm and the ice cold wind tugged at his parka, as he squeezed his eyes against the painful sensation of snow cutting his skin. It distracted him from the exasperation, which now coursed through his body as he scowled at the leaden skies spanning the South Pole.

Then he noticed it. A black spot, barely visible in the darkening maelstrom of whirling snowflakes, approached the city with abnormal speed. He furrowed his brow and tried to focus his gaze on the unidentified flying object. At that moment, a shock went through him.

Katara felt Zuko move beside her and looked up as well. Her eyes widened.

Then they simultaneously broke in wild laughter. "It's Appa!"

* * *

**A/N: **_Thank you all for the lovely reviews I received on the previous chapter! I'm so flattered to hear that so many of you find that the story fits with the show. _

_This chapter is mostly about Hakoda. I liked exploring his point of view as a father and Chief of the Southern Water Tribe._ _In this respect, I like to add that Hakoda hasn't been following Katara around. He's merely standing at his usual spot and happens to see Zuko, Katara and Master Pakku appear on the courtyard down below. But while he's standing there, he naturally stays to see if the young people are all right, knowing about Master Pakku's reluctant attitude toward their mission._

_I would like to thank my beta Lieta for her support._

_Thanks for reading and until next week!_


	21. Warmth

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 21: Warmth**

Music: George Winston, Love's Lullaby

* * *

"Easy, Appa. Good boy. We're almost there."

A small, tan hand peeked out of a dark cloak and patted the enormous bison on his thick, white fur. He groaned exhaustedly, but the soothing, almost pleading voice made the bison put a bit more power into his fluid movements as the western coasts of the Earth Kingdom appeared at the hazy horizon. He had spent too many hours of flying above a vast surface of dark oceanic water that lay behind him and he longed for some rest.

Seated on his gigantic head were two dark figures, which tiredly leaned against each other. For two days and one night straight, the bison and his passengers had flown to reach their next destination: the place where the Spirit Princess was first seen on the Earth Kingdom shores, which was near Senlin Village, home to the Hei Bai spirit. They had flown across frozen seas, which slowly started to melt away underneath them as they entered a more moderate climate and the icy rainfall had begun.

Katara hunched her shoulders against the cold wind penetrating her cloak as she renewed her grip on the reins. During her and Zuko's stay at the South Pole the relatively warm early fall in the Earth Kingdom mainland had changed to show the grim, stormy side of herself. The ominous sight of bare trees, dark and gleaming wet in the lashing rainfall, welcomed them to the Earth Kingdom, having replaced the bright and fiery autumn colors. It would be winter soon.

Katara had been quiet for most of the trip. During Appa's steady flight over the ocean she been pondering the odds of Appa landing precipitously on the palace courtyard, at the moment their despair had reached highest. But she'd also been scared by Appa's sudden arrival. Did something happen to Aang? The bison was saddled up and bridled, but alone.

Then Zuko had found it. A note, from Aang, had been attached to one of Appa's enormous paws. The note had stated that the breaching of the inner walls of Ba Sing Se was making good progress and that Appa needed some exercise. The note was signed with both Aang and Toph's names.

"So, he's in Ba Sing Se," Zuko had murmured as Katara had said simultaneously, "So, he's with Toph."

An inexplicable relief had woven through her thoughtful tone of voice and Zuko had looked up attentively. But Katara had avoided his questioning stare, instead fixing her attention to the characters depicting Toph's name in Aang's somewhat old-fashioned handwriting. She had been put off balance. There was no reason for jealousy, she knew, but was it right to feel this relieved to know that Toph was with him?

Luckily for her, Appa had spied Zuko standing before him. As his small, faithful eyes had lit up, his enormous tongue had shot out of his mouth and had completely drenched Zuko with a gigantic lick, effectively distracting him. Zuko's horrified expression had been all Katara needed to burst into nervous laughter.

"Ugh, he still thinks I'm covered in honey," Zuko had grumbled, pulling the sticky mucus off his face. Katara's reaction to Aang's note had been forgotten.

"Honey?" Katara had asked through her laughter as she wiped the tears from her face.

"Yeah, honey..." Now it had been Zuko's turn to hastily to avoid more questions but to his dismay he had come eye to eye with Katara's grumpy grandfather. He had groaned inwardly.

However, the gaze Master Pakku had cast at him had been one of mild mockery and had been devoid of the piercing disapproval Zuko had received from him since his arrival at the South Pole. It wasn't until Master Pakku had taken him aside the moment they were about to leave that Zuko had understood that his loyalty towards the old man's granddaughter and the White Lotus's acceptance of them both had changed Master Pakku's attitude. The waterbender had spoken gruffly, but sincerely when he had said, "I want to thank you for taking care of my granddaughter. I might have had my doubts, but I humbly acknowledge that the Grandmaster has been right about you."

Zuko had been speechless for a moment and had bowed respectfully to Katara's grandfather. "Thank you, sifu Pakku."

But the old man had not yet been finished with him. When Zuko had turned to climb the waiting bison, Master Pakku had held him back with a warning in his cold gaze. Zuko had swallowed subconsciously. "You two have become a lot closer during this trip and it has done Katara good. Very good," the waterbender had spoken in a soft tone as he held Zuko's gaze. "Remember that when you come to the decision between what's right and what's appropriate."

Then he had allowed Appa to rise off for the Earth Kingdom.

* * *

Katara's fingers became stiff in the stinging chill of the cold water seeping down her skin and she squinted to keep her gaze fixed on the unclear form of the Earth Kingdom coast looming behind the curtain of rainfall. 'Hang on, we're almost there,' she told herself as she clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering. She didn't want to wake Zuko from his slumber. He had held the reins for a good deal of the night.

But as Katara kept her gaze trained on the cliffs before her, the uncontrollable shivering of her body had already woken her traveling partner.

Zuko blinked against the cold rain streaming into his eyes, then looked down to see Katara staring fixedly ahead of her. A regretful expression passed over his features.

The next thing Katara noticed was that waves of salutary heat took the edge of her shivering. Surprised, she looked up and met with Zuko's golden eyes as he wordlessly pushed back his cloak to give her better access to his body. For a moment, Katara hesitated, feeling like a leech, a heat leech, but then her cramped, numbed body accepted the silent invitation for her. She shifted closer to Zuko, closing her eyes when she met with his warmth.

Zuko smiled when he felt the sigh that involuntarily left her body. "You're welcome," he said dryly, before Katara could murmur her thanks and he caught her blush before she averted her face.

The firebender had noticed that Katara had been unusually quiet as she held the reins, remaining deep in thought most of the time. It reminded him of their trip to avenge her mother, although the hostility, which had been emanating from her back then, had been long gone.

He knew that she had felt guilty about leaving Aang behind when they had been sent on their journey. With Appa unexpectedly arriving at the South Pole he suspected she had been reminded of that feeling. And he wanted to distract her from that.

"Hey," he said, making sure he would get her attention, "I'm sure Aang sent us Appa because he felt we needed him... And we did, didn't we? I mean, if it wasn't for Appa, we would still be stuck on the South Pole."

"I know," Katara answered with a frown, "it's a huge thing to do. A big sacrifice - for Aang, I mean. Nothing is more important to him than Appa..."

Her words died away in the rarefied air. Nothing... the designation had echoed in Zuko's ears. He cast a glance at Katara. She was sitting next to him, dressed again in the familiar, nondescript traveling clothes his uncle had provided them with. Her expression was slightly worried, but still tranquil as if she didn't acknowledge what she'd just said. But Zuko felt a wave of anger washing over him. Katara, the loveliest, most adorable girl in the world, was loved less than a pet?

No, he wanted to growl. That couldn't be. It shouldn't be. Not with the girl whose every step he worshipped, because of everything she had done for him. And before he could stop himself he asked, "Katara, why don't you care about Aang caring more for Appa than he does for you?"

Immediately, after the words had left his lips he had wanted to bite is tongue, but the violent reaction he expected, failed to come.

Her voice sounded thoughtful when she answered. Subdued and hesitant, as if she were searching for the right words. "I don't know. It's how it always has been. You must realize that Appa, and Momo for that matter, are the sole survivors of the civilization he once belonged to, a civilization which has disappeared completely. They are the only living memories he has of his own nation, his own people."

After an emotionally charged moment in which Zuko held his breath, she softly confessed, "I think that, in a way, he had hoped for me to be more like an Air Nomad, too."

Her shoulders slumped down and Zuko cursed himself for only making her feel guiltier towards Aang. He took the reins from her and nudged her with a faint smile. "You know, we could try to find a messenger hawk when we reach the village and send a message to him, so he knows Appa is all right."

His voice sounded strangely strained to his own ears, as he tried to control his anger towards the Avatar, but he was rewarded instantly with a brilliant, heart-stopping smile. And Zuko now knew what it felt like to have his heart leap in joy and wrench in sadness at the same time.

* * *

A few hours later, they finally landed in a forested area, almost reaching the high cliffs, which marked the natural border bridging land and sea. Katara had found a canvas in one of the traveling bags, which Zuko threw across some low branches of the old deciduous tree they used to make camp underneath it.

"Well, back to primitiveness," Katara laughed as she sampled the result. Zuko grinned.

"I would say, simplicity," he remarked, as he threw some last, damp sticks on a pile of wood for the campfire. He expected it would less burn than smoke, though, seeing the drenched state of the wood. Nonetheless, he looked up at Katara with a content look in his eyes. "Back to anonymity again."

Eventually, the campfire turned from a smoking heap of wet wood into a cheerful, crackling fire, due to a few violent boosts of flames from Zuko's fists.

Appa had settled himself as close to the fire as he dared, wanting to stay in the humans' company. Thus, he provided Katara with a possibility to sit down between the bison and the fire and snuggle against his soft fur.

Quietly, Zuko followed her example and sat down next to her, adding some more of his warmth to the warmth Appa and the campfire were already providing her with. In companionable silence they ate the dried seal jerky Katara's father had saved for their provisions from Sokka's bottomless stomach.

"You know," Katara then said thoughtfully, as she lowered her piece of seal jerky and gazed into the fire, "I wonder what information we will find about the Spirit Princess in Senlin Village. They never mentioned her when we were there, but I guess it wasn't really the right time for it then, since they were struggling with an enraged spirit at the time."

A long time ago, Zuko had heard Sokka say something about the Hei Bai forest in the western Earth Kingdom. He nodded understandingly and Katara looked at him curiously. Ever since she'd given up on the hostility toward him, she had become increasingly curious about Zuko's doings and whereabouts during that half a year when they had still been sworn enemies. A curiosity, which had been hindered by a feeling of awkwardness. However, the two of them traveling the world together right now made it easier for her to cross that boundary of shyness.

Zuko smiled crookedly when Katara quietly asked him where he had been at that time. "Running around somewhere in the Earth Kingdom saving my uncle, whom, I might add, was wearing only a loincloth at that time, from Earth Kingdom soldiers who had captured him in his sleep."

The smile that appeared on Katara's face betrayed her envisioning it. "I bet General Iroh has caused you a lot of trouble."

"He did." Zuko readily admitted and to amuse her, he described how his tea-loving uncle had taken his chances and made tea of what turned out to be a white jade bush, after which the rash had spread throughout the older man's body. "And even then he was ready to gamble with his life over a few berries that could heal his rash or make him lose his eyesight," he commented on a slight ironic tone of voice. Even after all these years, a certain exasperation could be heard in Zuko's husky voice and Katara grinned at the old man's antics.

Zuko smiled into the fire, a soft smile that made Katara's heart leap a little. To distract herself, she changed the subject. "I wonder if we'll be able to find the Spirit Princess before it's too late. The Earth Kingdom is big."

Zuko's gaze darkened. "I never expected we would have to search for someone I thought existed only in Earth Kingdom fairytales."

To be honest, he wasn't all that enthusiastic about this newest development in their quest. As if it hadn't been enough to search for his missing mother already, now they also had to find some fairytale figure in order to get information to find his mother.

Katara looked at him attentively as Zuko sent some more fire balls into the campfire, silently willing the fire to flare up simultaneously. Then he stared into the fire broodingly. Back on the South Pole, she had had a short conversation with her father, which had strengthened some of her suspicions concerning the origins of this particular Earth Kingdom fairytale.

Averting her gaze, Katara chose her words carefully. "The harbor near Senlin Village is, in fact, the closest to the Fire Nation of all Earth Kingdom harbors."

Zuko raised his one eyebrow at her words and said flatly, "There's nothing wrong with my knowledge of geography, thank you very much. The Crescent Island has long been a springboard to the Earth Kingdom for the Fire Nation military forces and, in times of peace, for smugglers."

This caused Katara to look up attentively and Zuko made an innocent face. "What? The Fire Nation is widely known for its unparalleled blacksmiths. Our swords are the finest quality in the world. Everybody knows that."

But Katara's wasn't to be fooled and she cast him a meaningful gaze.

In reaction, a sly smile passed over Zuko's handsome features. "It's also said that it's the best place to find some of the most exquisite Earth Kingdom tea varieties and avoid the high taxes previous Fire Lords laid on tea from the Earth Kingdom."

A smirk tugging on Katara's lips softened her wary expression and Zuko grinned back deviously. "Iroh," they said simultaneously and laughed about Zuko's tea-crazed uncle, until Zuko bent forward to throw another log into the fire.

"Still, I wonder why the Spirit Princess was dressed in white, when she reached the Earth Kingdom shores. It's a mourning color," Katara then mused as Zuko sent two more fireballs into the campfire, but Zuko only shrugged. He wanted to change the subject.

"Well, I'm still wondering what it was that the captain of the Fire Nation trade ship told you back when we went to Kyoshi Island. You looked pretty upset." It was childish, he knew, but he hadn't gotten a real answer from her earlier and it interested him more than a Spirit Princess who might or might not be real.

He was curious if she would still be avoiding his question or…

"It's of no consequence anymore." Zuko heard Katara say quietly as she stared into the fire, avoiding his gaze.

Zuko frowned. "Is it? Why?"

"Because everything that had to be said has been said already," Katara replied cryptically. She hesitated before she went on, "The… the captain told me that he had the feeling I didn't know enough about your past. And that there was something important I needed to know, concerning your scar."

Zuko paled, this wasn't something he had wanted anyone to know about. "How...?"

"The captain said that Commander Jee has become a good friend of his," Katara explained quickly when she saw his expression. "Your uncle at some point seemed to have told your crew about your past, when you were still at sea, banished. The captain didn't know much about it, though. Commander Jee apparently hasn't told him everything."

"Hmm..." With a little more force than necessary Zuko blew another ball of fire towards the campfire, but surprisingly, he didn't seem too angry. "It was still enough to upset you. Remind me to degrade Commander Jee when I'm home again."

He cast her a sideways glance and Katara caught up with his half irritated, half joking smile. She returned his smile, carefully hiding her surprise over the fact that he seemed more concerned for her wellbeing than his own. It pleased her more than she was willing to admit.

For a while, they didn't speak and settled for just leaning against Appa and gazing into the fire. It felt strange to sit on the cold, wet woodland soil, while the cocoon of warmth around Katara kept the nightly chill of the autumn season at distance. She stared into the flames, seeing the many colors in them, and felt her exhausted muscles relax as drowsiness slowly took over. Leaning back against the huge bison, she closed her eyes and didn't fight it when her head slid down the smooth fur and came to rest lightly against Zuko's shoulder.

She was grateful when he didn't pull back but instead sighed softly. Katara couldn't tell though if it was because of her gesture or the fact that he lifted his palm to send a last boost of flames into the campfire. She didn't really care, though. Katara had never felt this peaceful in her entire life.

That was, until her relaxed state of mind gave way to memories of flowing colors and traces of images, repressed by the maelstrom of events, started to drift to conscious levels. Her mouth opened.

"Zuko?"

"Yeah?" His reply didn't come immediately and when he spoke his voice was guarded, as if he was already expecting her question.

"What did you see when the White Lotus opened herself to us?"

He stiffened a little at her question. Then he answered cautiously, "At first, I saw nothing but the blinding light surrounding us, but at the same time the light somehow made the colors in the room look brighter. Much brighter. Then I saw the reason why we are on our way, that what binds the Spirit World to ours and to the Order of the White Lotus. Clearer than ever I saw the importance the Order of the White Lotus holds to the Avatar and to the world. Without it, the balance is gone, for the Avatar cannot always protect the balance alone, nor assure the continuation of the line of Avatars. I saw how the first Grandmaster of the Order received the White Lotus from the elemental spirits. Agni... I was almost burned to dust by his gaze."

Zuko sounded a bit awkward and Katara whispered, "I thought I'd drown in La's eyes... but you pulled me away..."

"I know…" Zuko said, an odd expression on his face. Then he shook his head. "I also saw Grandmasters of the past pass before my eyes. I saw the inner workings, rituals and hiding places of the Order of the White Lotus, and I saw how the line of Grandmasters is intertwined with the line of Avatars. I... I..." He cleared his throat and his voice got a somewhat rough edge to it. "I saw how my uncle had become the present Grandmaster."

It had shocked Zuko deeply, to come to realize that his uncle's teachings about the balance between the four elements, had been supported, even started, by this mysterious force which was the Order of the White Lotus. At one point, the Black Lotus Council had wanted to raise him in the ancient wisdom of their Order, to raise him like they had raised countless of Avatars as the world's last hope for peace, the great-grandson of the last but one Avatar. It had knocked his breath out of him and if it hadn't been for Katara, he might just as well had forgotten to return to the real world as he had been rooted to the spot, staring into distance in shock.

Zuko now understood that his uncle had told the Black Lotus Council of what he had known all along about his nephew's double heritage and the Council, he now realized, had acted upon this knowledge. A council of which King Bumi and Master Pakku had already been members back then.

This was the second shock for Zuko. Scornfully, he had cast away the illusion that Master Pakku's disapproval of him rose from the stories the waterbender had heard about him. Master Pakku, how far up north he might have been at the time, had been involved in his upbringing and knew everything about him. Zuko smiled bitterly. No wonder Katara's sifu hadn't trusted him with his precious granddaughter.

Katara had silently followed the storm of emotions passing over his face as he stared into the fire. His tormented expression gave her some inkling on what thoughts went through him now. She gave him a soft nudge and he looked up.

"Then you also saw that Iroh has succeeded in his task," she said softly, lifting a hand to tuck a strand of his black hair behind his ear. Her fingers lightly brushed his scar as she did so. "He has paved the path for the great-grandson of Avatar Roku to play one of the most decisive roles in the downfall of Fire Lord Sozin's doctrine and lead the Fire Nation into an era of love and peace," she repeated his own words.

Zuko didn't respond right away, savoring the feeling of her caressing his cheek as he felt the feeling of shame slowly change into one of modest pride. Pride of what his uncle had accomplished with him, which had resulted in the reluctant acceptance of Master Pakku. Master Pakku, whom even had acknowledged the good Zuko's company had done Katara. And that was all that really mattered to him.

A small smile appeared on Zuko's lips as he looked down at Katara's chestnut hair gleaming in the flickering campfire. Maybe...

"I saw..." he started to say on impulse, but then his voice broke as his heart sank into his boots.

"What?" Katara asked hesitantly. Unexpectedly, it felt as Zuko had meant to say something important and a strange feeling made her stomach flutter. She didn't dare to press him, but Zuko looked at her from the corner of his eyes and saw her intense gaze. This seemed to give him the encouragement he needed.

He took a deep breath. "I saw images... that were linked to... some kind of... future."

Zuko hesitated and Katara stiffened beside him. The blood drained from her features. So, Zuko had seen it, too, she realized. Memories of that moment had been lingering in her thoughts all through their voyage across the ocean. They had both upset and excited her and she had felt deeply confused as she sat on Appa's head, holding the reins, while the object of her confusion dozed beside her.

"I did, too," she whispered finally, "but only fragments and what seemed like pieces of different... possibilities."

The words lingered in the air as Katara stared into the fire, wondering what possibilities he had seen, but as she felt her pulse quicken, she got the feeling that she didn't have to.

She lifted her head and her eyes met with Zuko's golden gaze. For a moment, they only stared at each other, motionless, then her heart seemed to drum in her ears as she felt herself drawn in by his gaze once more. Just like in her room at South Pole palace, she couldn't resist the feeling pulling her closer to him. Involuntarily, her lips parted when she noticed that he had leaned in as well.

Their faces drew closer until their noses were almost touching. Then Zuko hesitated. Katara shivered and her breathing picked up pace as she saw Zuko close his eyes, his lips almost on hers.

"Katara, I..." he whispered hoarsely.

Suddenly, a low rumble went through the warm animal form behind them and they bolted upright, roughly jolting back into reality. It was a reality in which it had started to rain again, with steady, cold raindrops. The mesmerizing moment had disappeared in the bleak night's chill and they didn't dare to look at each other again.

Closing her eyes, Katara sighed and stared at the dark, starless night sky above her as a hollow feeling nestled in her heart. She barely noticed that Zuko got up and patted Appa as he mumbled reassuringly, "You're right, Appa. It's time to go to sleep."

He seemed less affected than she was. But when Zuko hushed the fire before rolling himself in his blanket, Katara could have sworn she had seen a slight tremble in the wave of his hand.

* * *

**A/N:** _Thank you for all of the encouraging reviews I received. Strata Stargazer's review made me smile. I'm afraid Zuko stays a little ignorant about his mother some more... But Katara seems to be more perceptive on this one._

_As you can see, they're heading for Senlin Village and since Aang has sent them Appa, they can move around a lot quicker now._

_I think you all recognize Crescent Island from Winter Solstice part II, in which episode Aang speaks with Avatar Roku in the Fire Temple. Crescent Island is an abandoned island and I think it's a perfect place for smugglers._

_I couldn't help enclosing a reference to Sokka mentioning in The Western Air Temple that Zuko had been covered in honey, since Appa licked him twice (!) in The Western Air Temple. And animals tend to remember where to find sweets..._

_Update next week!_


	22. Caramelldansen

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 22: Caramelldansen**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Infinite Legends

* * *

A watery afternoon sun cast hesitant beams of pale light across the autumnal Hei Bai forest, highlighting the settlement built in the only open spot for miles around, as Appa skimmed the dense forests in search for a good spot to land. He made an elegant turn and a small collection of strange, outstretched houses, surrounded by high wooden palisades came into view. Arched, green roofs, decorated with brass ridges, gave the houses elegant looks. The most beautiful roof was that of the community house, a large, inviting building with a veranda, settled at the very end of the village. The rest of the houses sat in neat rows before it.

When Katara had last visited this village, it had been late spring and the modest village had been skulking behind the lush forest surrounding it. Now, the only green she could see were the roofs of the buildings behind the palisade fences.

"What's with the strange, long houses?" Zuko asked as Katara steered Appa towards the village entrance. He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes as he studied the buildings with interest.

"The houses are serially built. It saves space," Katara pointed out and a smile appeared on her face when people emerged from the houses to watch the Avatar's bison land on the village square.

They had arrived in Senlin Village.

* * *

As soon as Katara and Zuko dismounted Appa, the leader of the village, a stately, benign, middle-aged man approached them. He was followed by an old man dressed in worn clothes, with eyes almost invisible behind the loose skin hanging over his eyelids.

"We saw something fast and unfamiliar approaching our village through the air. Then we realized it was the Avatar's bison," the village leader said as a welcome, a warm smile softening his quiet, beardless features. His gaze wandered from Katara to her companion, expecting him to be the young Avatar. Instead, the person following her was a pale young man with messy black hair partly covering a conspicuous facial scar. The village leader's smile froze.

He recognized the young man from the previous encounter he had had with the firebender, when Zuko had pushed him down in order to get information on the Avatar's whereabouts. Though merely a teenager at the time, his angry demeanor had made an indelible impression on the village chief. But the chief saw immediately that the young man had become almost unrecognizable as he quietly went to stand next to Katara and looked at the village leader with a wary, but knowing, gaze in his intense, golden eyes. He had recognized the village leader as well.

The uncomfortable expression that now passed over Zuko's face, told Katara that this was yet another confrontation with his troubled past. Immediately, she stepped before him and made a respectful bow to the village chief.

"Aang hasn't come with us this time, sir," she said. "He kindly lent us his bison so to help us on our journey."

Zuko, who had seen the village leader's shocked reaction to his appearance, mirrored Katara's bow and introduced himself. He had to bite back a smile as he registered the slight emphasis she put on the word 'us'. Each time that she stood up for him, he felt the glow inside of him growing stronger. When he straightened up, he cast a quick, warm glance at her that she failed to notice.

But the village leader did notice. His features relaxed. He had heard of the young Fire Lord who had helped the Avatar defeat his father. And he decided there was no need to confront one of the Young War Heroes with his deeds from his past. He was a friend of the Avatar's now.

"Of course," the village leader smiled. "I hope the Avatar's friends would do us the honor of staying for dinner."

* * *

The village leader and his family appeared to live in the large community house. There they served a simple but nutritious meal to Zuko and Katara, who had gratefully accepted the village chief's invitation. After having lived on dried seal jerky for days, the travelers were grateful to taste fresh food again.

The village leader had two young daughters, who stared at the strangers with wide eyes throughout the whole dinner. When their mother gave them permission to leave the table, they ran off to another corner of the large hall to play.

With a tender gaze in her eyes, Katara followed the little girls, who were adorable in their matching green dresses. Her eyes searched for toys in the corner where they had run off to, interested in their game. But to her surprise the girls grinned, nodded at each other once and started to sing, while doing a little dance.

The song sounded familiar and subconsciously Katara lifted one eyebrow in wonder. But it was the goofy dance accompanying the song that brought back memories of that time when Team Avatar had met with a group of strange Earth Kingdom nomads.

The girls twirled around, their little hands waving in the air as they went. It sounded like they only knew the first two lines of their song, though. The rest was filled in with endless lalalas.

Their mother let out a deep and meaningful sigh. "Please, don't mind them. They've been doing nothing else since those nomads passed through last week."

"The nomads, I knew it!" Katara called out triumphantly.

The village leader's wife rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. "You've heard of them?"

A grin appeared on Katara's lips. "I actually met them, a few years ago. They drove my brother crazy with their songs."

"I can see why," the woman replied flatly as she eyed her two children dancing around tirelessly.

"What are they singing?" Katara cocked her head to the side to listen, narrowing her eyes. "It sounds like, 'wind a spin, so me will fall'. That makes no sense."

Until then, Zuko had been eating silently, not understanding Katara's interest in the twirling girls, but now he looked up and subconsciously grinned at the mangled words.

"They're singing 'Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall,' from the song 'Four Seasons,'" he dryly informed the two women, as he took some bread. He was met with two surprised gazes.

"Well, at least that makes more sense…" Katara allowed thoughtfully, "but, how…" she turned around and questioningly lifted her eyebrows.

Zuko widened his eyes. "My uncle used to sing that song all the time," he defended himself, inwardly cursing himself for speaking up the first time. He and his big mouth. He cast a glance at the singing and dancing girls and lifted his eyebrow. "Originally, it's a ballad, though."

"If only it had stayed a ballad," the mother of the girls sighed before she rose from her seat and motioned to her daughters that it was time for bed. "I think that that Chong person has made it his life's goal to corrupt every child in the entire Earth Kingdom with this dance. And he didn't even know the entire song."

* * *

Two hours later, the entire village had assembled in the community house, called up by the village leader who had spread the word of Zuko and Katara's need for information. The old man who had been following in the village leader's trail before, was now sitting on a small stool next to the village leader, his expression a little absentminded as if he didn't quite understand what he was in the Great Hall for.

"So," the village leader opened the meeting when everyone was seated, "what can we help the Avatar's friends with?" His green eyes showed genuine curiosity.

Zuko shifted uncomfortably on his seat. He hadn't exactly been looking forward to this moment, when he would be asking about the whereabouts of a fairytale creature. To put it mildly, he felt rather ridiculous.

His gaze crossed Katara's. She was looking at him pointedly and he suppressed a sigh. That girl could be so persistent, sometimes. He searched for the right, no, the proper words.

"We were wondering if you had some information about a woman whom, according to Earth Kingdom stories, landed here on the Earth Kingdom shores, years ago, together with nine men accompanying her," Zuko said neutrally after a moment of deliberation. It earned him a puzzled look from the chief and Katara glared at her companion.

"We're searching for the Spirit Princess," she then said plainly, to which Zuko frowned and mumbled something unintelligible, but nodded nonetheless.

The village leader's face brightened up. "Really?"

He burst into generous laughter. "The Spirit Princess? Is that who you're looking for? My dear friends of the Avatar, she's a myth. A legend. Such stories come into existence and then spread around like wildfire without anyone knowing where exactly they come from. Most of the stories can be reduced to the need for hope during hard times. The story of the Spirit Princess is only one of them."

The villagers mumbled in agreement and shrugged, shaking their heads at each other. Was this what the Avatar's friends had called them to community house for? They were chasing a myth.

Zuko's displeased frown deepened as he watched the villagers' reactions. It was as he had expected. Most of the people had only heard about the Spirit Princess as a in fairytale and if someone had actually seen her, what still remained to be seen, that person would not admit to that in public.

Katara however, wasn't this easily defeated.

"I don't think that's the case with the Spirit Princess," she spoke out against the village leader, a defiant look in her blue eyes, "she's real and we heard that she landed here in this part of the Earth Kingdom. We have to find her."

The village leader smiled indulgently and shook his head. "Katara, I don't know how you came to believe in the reality of the stories about the Spirit Princess…"

Zuko sighed and received one of Toph's famous punches in return.

"…but I can assure you, there's as little reality in this story as there is in, for instance, those concerning the Blue Spirit."

Zuko froze, then slowly looked up. "The Blue Spirit…?" he repeated weakly.

The village leader nodded in slight mockery. "Another myth concerning a hero who stole food from the rich and gave it to the poor and eventually even rescued the Avatar from the grasp of the Fire Nation."

For a moment, Zuko stared at the village leader in disbelief, as the man sat on his platform wearing a confident expression on his face. Up until now, doubts on the existence of the Spirit Princess had withheld Zuko from really putting his heart into this search for her, but here he was confronted with the harsh reality. The villagers considered him a myth, too.

A muffled sound next to him made him turn his head in an inconspicuous way to meet with Katara's gaze, glistening with barely concealed laughter and a hint of triumph. She had seen from his bewildered expression what was going on inside of him and had drawn the right conclusion.

A corner of his mouth twitched as Zuko hastily averted his gaze and bit his lip. They both looked down at their hands.

The village leader, however, mistook their attempt to hide their smiles for a gesture of dejectedness. "So, although we're honored to have the Avatar's friends visiting us, I'm afraid you're wasting your time," he concluded with a regretful smile, his gaze holding no doubt that he considered the subject closed.

The villagers looked at each other, not sure if this meant the end of the meeting with the Avatar's friends. Mumbling went through the crowd.

At that moment, the old man, who hadn't spoken a word since the meeting had begun, stirred on his seat. His eyes opened and immediately the mumbling died down. Apparently, he was well respected in this small community. Everybody watched as he lifted a shaking finger. "The Spirit Princess landed in the Earth Kingdom nine years ago, surrounded by her guards. Nobody dared to come closer when they saw her, enthralled by her beauty and the frightening strength of the men as they were."

His shaky voice sounded fragile in the silent room, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. Their eyes widened and, as one, the villagers turned to look at their leader.

With a dumbstruck expression on his face, the village leader had listened to the old man, who had closed his eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep again.

Everybody in the Great Hall held their breaths as they waited for the old man to continue.

After many moments, in which Katara and Zuko's patience was heavily tried, the old man finally looked up again, his watery gaze fixed on them. He tapped his nose and mumbled, "The Spirit Princess didn't visit Senlin Village, though. She landed at Senlin Harbor, a few miles to the west. From there she disappeared with unknown destiny."

A wave of excitement went through Katara at his words. They had a lead again! In a reflex, she grabbed Zuko's hand and squeezed it, but didn't notice that he didn't respond.

At the old man's words Zuko's eyes had darkened as he recognized the meaning behind them. He bowed his head and retreated in silent brooding.

Meanwhile, the village leader fruitlessly tried to get more information out of the old man who had clearly fallen asleep for real this time and, eventually, he had no choice but to announce that the meeting was over.

At that moment, Zuko seemed to wake up from his musings and turned to the village leader. "We are very grateful for your hospitality and if it doesn't burden you too much, I would like to request that we may leave Appa in your village for the time we need to spend in Senlin Harbor."

Katara looked up in surprise and saw his solemn expression, but before she could say something, the village leader nodded, his expression serious like Zuko's. "Of course. We will gladly take care of the Avatar's bison until you come back. But how do you plan to get to Senlin Harbor?"

Zuko nodded curtly, but graciously, then replied, "We will walk."

"Are you sure you won't need some kind of transportation?" The village leader was a bit surprised, but Zuko shook his head.

There was a certain definiteness in his gesture, with a hint of something Katara couldn't place, that had her stomach turning around.

The village leader didn't press the matter.

* * *

Half an hour later, a peaceful silence had descended upon the community house as the villagers had returned to their houses, talking over the strange course of events during the meeting. Zuko was glad to be freed from their curious gazes and nodded gratefully when the village leader suggested they'd go to bed if they wanted to leave at the crack of dawn. Tiredness had finally caught up with him and he had noticed Katara's face looked ashen as well. They could use some sleep.

The young travelers were given separate rooms in the community house. Zuko was still pondering the old man's words as he silently walked Katara, who seemed to be engrossed in her own thoughts, to her room.

Only when they stopped before a heavy, dark wooden door she seemed to become aware of his presence. She put her hand on the handle, hesitated, then turned toward him.

"So, we're leaving Appa behind and we're going to walk to the harbor?" She established with apparent irritation in her voice. She clearly didn't agree with him.

"Yes," Zuko said flatly, his eyes remaining unreadable. His face betrayed nothing but a slight weariness, which seemed to bother her even more.

"And I suppose that isn't something you could have discussed with me before you decided on that?"

He only looked at her and for a moment Katara thought he wanted to say something in response, but Zuko remained quiet and gave a vague shake of his head.

A frown creased her eyebrows. The casualness with which he was acting stung her. "Well, you should have. I'm not one of your subjects, in case you haven't noticed, Your Majesty!" she gibed at him, but he didn't seem impressed.

"It's best to not draw too much attention to ourselves or be bothered with ballast we don't need, like ostrich-horses."

It was hardly an explanation and Katara glared at him before pushing down the door handle. She didn't go inside, though. Instead, she remained standing in the doorway, distracted from her irritation with him by the strange look that appeared in his eyes. His expression was difficult to determine. Was it… worry?

Katara swallowed. Gone was the earlier irritation as the knot in her stomach returned. But, before she could ask him about it Zuko unexpectedly leaned in and his lips slightly brushed hers.

A jolt of electricity shot through Katara's core and involuntarily she drew in her breath as the feeling disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Bringing her hand to her lips, she looked up at Zuko with wide eyes. He stood where he had been standing before, a slightly melancholy look in his eyes. Katara lowered her hand and began to wonder if she'd only imagined it, when Zuko pressed his lips together in a regretful grimace and said quietly, "Goodnight, Katara."

Then he turned around and headed for his own room with long strides, watched by a dumbstruck waterbender.

In the Great Hall, a soft glow passed over two lotus clasps attached to a pair of dark cloaks.

* * *

Katara was exhausted, she could feel it by the way her eyes burned behind her eyelids in protest, but as the night slowly advanced, sleep failed to come. She tossed and turned in the comfortable bed, which she otherwise would have been very grateful for since it wasn't often that she got to sleep in a real bed lately. Even at the South Pole she and Zuko had ended up sleeping on the floor of her sitting room.

Zuko… Had he really kissed her? Her fingers tentatively touched her lips, where the tingling sensations of the feathery caress still lingered, sending a weak shiver down her spine.

Katara stared at the rice paper covered window. Her thoughts kept returning to the moment when she'd felt the sudden, soft brush of his lips touching hers, only to disappear the same instant. He had caught her off guard, but the faint, almost bashful kiss had felt so different from the two times Aang had caught her off guard, too. Which included her own reaction to the soft touch of Zuko's lips, she thought sarcastically as she tried to sort out the feelings storming through her right now. While confusion had taken possession of her mind, her body had reacted to his touch on its own accord. Only after he had already left, had she realized that her hand, which she had brought to her lips, had been hanging in the air motionlessly. Lifted toward the person whose touch she'd wanted to respond to.

Katara couldn't forget the look she had seen in his eyes, before he leaned in. Behind the apparent worry, which had unnerved her, there had been an implicit gentleness he only reserved for her, even when they were still bitter enemies. It was a look that caused butterflies in her stomach each time she noticed it.

Katara rolled onto her back, facing the dark wooden ceiling above her. Her ocean blue eyes wide open. She felt stupid. He had probably only wanted to wish her goodnight, maybe brush off her question on leaving Appa behind and she was thinking too much of it. That thought didn't comfort her, however. The possibility that he had wanted to distract her from her anger, angered her even more, but on the other hand the butterflies in her stomach told her that she actually wanted it to be more than just a kiss goodnight…

Abruptly, Katara sat up. This was maddening. Tomorrow she would have to face a long walk toward a port and she needed her rest.

She cast a glance at the unused side of her large bed. A feeling of loneliness tugged at her heart, explaining the other part of her insomnia. Katara missed his warmth in a bed that somehow didn't seem to warm up with her in it alone, and she longed for the way he would wrap his arms around her to calm her down like he'd done before when she was feeling restless. And Katara was certainly feeling restless now.

There was something about Senlin Harbor that worried him, which she couldn't place. His worry unnerved her though, and made her dread the moment they would arrive in the port town.

With a frustrated sigh, Katara threw back the blankets and sat up. It was no use. She was wide awake and needed the tension out of her body before she could finally go to sleep.

She slid on her boots and let the white nightgown she'd borrowed from the village leader's wife fall over the black leather. Perfect combination, she thought in self-mockery. She might as well go downstairs and stare into the dying fire for a while. Maybe it would channel her thoughts and calm her down.

There was no fireplace in her room, so she couldn't light a candle. Katara sneaked outside and, covered by darkness, proceeded along the long corridor towards the staircase. Quietly, she began to descend down the steps, only to come to a sudden stop when she caught sight of the dimly lit hall downstairs. A surprised expression appeared on her features.

The fire, which she had expected to be smoldering by now, was actually ablaze and cast a warm light on the silhouette of the motionless person sitting in front of it, leaning against a wooden pillar. Katara froze when she recognized him but he had already heard her. He looked up. The person who had occupied her thoughts for a few hours now and whom she desperately wanted to forget for long enough to fall asleep. Zuko.

For a moment, Katara didn't know what to do, when she realized that it was too late to turn around and go back to her room. She mouthed a quiet, "Hi," and continued on her way down.

A little warily, Katara crossed the great hall, careful to keep down the noise coming from her boots. As she approached Zuko, she desperately tried to contain the memory of his kiss that now washed over her with considerable force but somehow she couldn't tear her gaze from his mouth, now curling into a small smile. When she'd almost reached him, she swallowed. Would he say something… Should she…? Resolutely, Katara shook her head and pushed the memory to the back of her mind as she went to stand next to him.

Her eyes trailed downwards. On the ground before him lay a brush and some parchment.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked quietly, his head tilted so to meet her gaze. His expression was somewhat guarded. Had his thoughts been the same as hers just now…?

Katara nodded wordlessly and looked down at him, as he sat cross-legged on one of the large green cushions lying around the fireplace. She noticed that he wore his dark trousers, falling loosely around his shins, as he hadn't tightened the trouser-legs to fit in the absent boots. He was barefoot. A white sleeping shirt, obviously one of the village leader's, completed his appearance. He had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the loose strings of the V-neck exposed the pale skin of his neck and a little of his toned chest. With a tired movement, he brushed some of his unwieldy hair, which was even messier than usual, out of his eyes and smiled at her.

'Beautiful,' Katara thought subconsciously as she remained standing there.

"Neither could I," Zuko replied and Katara blinked, wondering what question he was answering.

Then she realized in horror that she had been ogling her traveling companion and hastily tore her eyes from him, sitting down on the cushion next to him. She didn't dare to look at him again.

"My bed was too cold," she admitted reluctantly, her eyes pointedly fixed on the fire. She hoped that he didn't notice her blush.

But, when he didn't react, she took a peek at him from the corner of her eye and saw him staring into the fire as well. He noticed the look she cast him and with a barely noticeable bow of his head, he replied, "Mine was too warm."

Katara was sure that the pink gracing his cheeks should be blamed on the warm fire. She looked away and caught the parchment lying next to him. It was closely written in Zuko's neat handwriting.

"Are you writing a letter to someone?" She asked and Zuko nodded, taking the scroll from the ground. He lit a small fire and melted some of the sealing wax onto the paper, then pushed his golden ring in it, imprinting an impressive blazon consisting of dragons and flames. The Fire Lord's coat of arms.

"To my uncle. I want him to keep me informed about government and I want him to know where we're going." There was a darkness underlying his otherwise calm tone of voice and the unsettling feeling Katara had felt earlier this evening wrenched her stomach again.

His face, however, betrayed nothing, when he put aside the scroll and pointed at another scroll, already sealed.

"For Aang," he explained simply and Katara's eyes widened in surprise. So, he hadn't forgotten about his promise. She flashed him a grateful smile to which he shrugged a bit shyly.

For a few silent moments, the two of them just watched the fire crackle in companionable silence and as Katara tiredly closed her eyes, she finally felt the long awaited sleep take over. She sighed in relief and yawned as she leaned against the pillar as well, her shoulder touching Zuko's warm arm.

"There's something about that Senlin Harbor you're not telling me and it's unnerving me," Katara said without thinking, trying to wipe away the last of her discomfort as she let her head rest on Zuko's shoulder. He sighed and despite herself, Katara enjoyed the feeling of his breath leaving his body forcefully.

"I will tell you tomorrow, when we are on our way," he promised.

"I'll hold you to that," Katara mumbled as she shifted her head to fit in the place between his neck and his shoulder. He chuckled lightly and for a moment Katara thought she felt his lips touching her hair.

"Goodnight, Katara," he whispered for the second time this evening and that was the last she heard.

* * *

The next morning, Zuko woke from a hand lightly touching his shoulder and he groggily opened his eyes. For a moment, he tried to remember where he was, like almost every morning these days.

As he slowly became aware of the early morning sounds around him, he started to remember that he was sitting in the Great Hall of the Senlin Village community house, slumped down against one of the pillars in front of the fireplace. In his arms he held a sleeping Katara. The village leader's wife, who had awoken him, smiled.

"If I had known this, I wouldn't have given you separate rooms," she said to his embarrassment and knelt down to light the fire. Only now Zuko noticed the chill in the air.

He ran a hand through his hair as the events of last night slowly returned to his foggy brain. How he hadn't been able to sleep and had ultimately decided to go sit by the fireplace downstairs, idly hoping for sleep to come, which he knew wouldn't happen as long as Katara wasn't sleeping next to him.

To his surprise, she had eventually appeared on the stairs as well, her white nightgown not long enough to hide the heavy boots she wore underneath it. Her face had been framed by wild curls, indicating that she had had a rough time trying to get to sleep, too. The sight of her had knocked the breath out of him.

Reluctantly, they had acknowledged they couldn't sleep without each other, ultimately settling for falling asleep in the Great Hall, in each other's arms.

Katara stirred and mumbled something, starting to wake up. Smilingly, Zuko looked down at the girl trustingly sleeping in his arms.

Then he remembered. He had kissed Katara. He had kissed Katara in the corridor before her bedroom door. Briefly, but still. He had kissed Katara.

Zuko let his head fall back against the pillar and groaned. This was bad. Really bad. He had actually kissed Katara. How could he have done that? She was the Avatar's girlfriend, and he was with Mai, for Agni's sake!

No wonder she had been so hesitant towards him at first, before she finally fell asleep in his arms, driven by exhaustion. In hindsight, he was surprised she hadn't lashed out at him with a water whip like he deserved.

But, she had looked so adorable then and the menacing prospect of their visit to Senlin Harbor had urged him to act on his confusing feelings for once. Without an exhausted Appa interfering.

"Zuko?"

Zuko immediately opened his eyes and looked down on a yawning and blinking Katara.

"I'm here," he assured her. He was somewhat relieved by hearing her call his name the instant she woke up. Hopefully, she wasn't too mad at him.

As he helped her sit up he noticed that she looked around with a familiar look of surprise on her face. Like him, she had to remember where she was each morning she woke up.

"We've fallen in sleep in front of the fireplace," Zuko helped her remember.

Then a stern voice boomed from above, "And if you want be in Senlin Harbor before tomorrow evening, you have to get up as soon as possible."

* * *

Half an hour later, Zuko and Katara were ready to go. Their provisions of seal jerky were enriched with two loafs of bread and they gratefully thanked the village leader and his people for their help. Katara looked around to see if she could spot the old man, but the village leader shook his head a little sadly.

"Since the incident with the Hei Bai spirit, the good man has become wary of everything that has to do with spirits," he explained and Katara understood why the man had refused to say more about the Spirit Princess yesterday evening.

Appa seemed to understand that he was to stay in the village and grumbled when Katara hugged his fur, promising to come back for him soon.

"Get a good rest, boy. You deserve it," Zuko mumbled and patted the bison on his nose, still wary for the animal's big tongue.

Then he slung his Dao swords over his shoulder and nodded to Katara, but they were unexpectedly held back by village leader.

As Katara turned to look at him she saw a certain fear in his green eyes.

His worried gaze lingered on Zuko. "Please, be warned about Senlin Harbor. The city surrounding this port isn't as… good willing as Senlin Village. Be on your guard and come back soon."

Zuko bowed respectfully to the village leader. "I'm aware of the dangers and you have my gratitude for emphasizing them to us."

With that they headed for the woods. Appa's deafening roar of goodbye rang in their ears for a long time after they'd entered the dense forest and disappeared between the ancient trees.

"So, will you finally tell me what's all the fuss about Senlin Harbor?" They had walked on for quite a while, without speaking and Katara was the first to break the silence. Expectantly, she looked at him from the corner of her eye, but the gaze he cast at her made a shiver run down her spine.

His answer was curt. "Pirates."

* * *

**A/N:** _So… Caramelldansen. Probably, the strangest prompt thusfar. I must admit I didn't know about this 2006 internet meme in which anime figures are dancing, among them Zuko and Katara._ _It has proved to be quite a challenge to incorporate this prompt in this story._ _So, then you suddenly have_ _the daughters of the village leader dancing to a song the Earth Kingdom nomad Chong has taught them, mangling the lyrics along the way. Why? When searching Wikipedia for information on Caramelldansen, I found that Caramelldansen is what's called in Japanese a soramimi, a misheard lyric. It appears that when the Swedish band is singing: Dansa med oss, klappa era händer, Japanese people understand them singing: There isn't any balsamic vinegar after all. I mean, that's totally brilliant, so I had to make a misheard lyric out of the song only Zuko recognizes._

_A more thoughtful approach to the prompt is the village leader's opinion about the story of the Spirit Princess: Caramelldansen is in fact so famous because it's a meme. The story of the Spirit Princess is like a meme, too, everybody knows it and the story travels._

_So, this is my length__y explanation of this week's chapter title._

_I want to thank everyone who reviewed and oh my... poor Appa! What have I done to him? He was so tired and he ruined everything... But he did set things into motion: it's going to get really exciting! Pirates and a kiss; what's going to happen next? _

_As always, I want to thank my beta Lieta for her excellent work. Until next week!_


	23. Drunk

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 23: Drunk**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, Dark Harbor

* * *

"Pirates!" Katara repeated, aghast, and checked her step in the middle of the road at Zuko's curt reply. The tone in her voice made him cast a glance over his shoulder. He noticed that she was rooted to her spot, watching him with a dismayed expression on her face.

Zuko suppressed a wry smile, as he turned halfway around. He had expected as much. The encounters she'd had with pirates in the past, she didn't remember too fondly. Neither did he, for that matter. After a moment of deliberation Zuko walked back and held out his hand for her to take. "Come. You walk, I talk."

After days of steadfast rainfall, the forest was damp and a heavy scent of moist woodland soil hung between the trunks like thin trails of mist. Subdued, weak beams of sunlight, peeking through the intricate lattice of bare branches, didn't succeed in warming the chill in the air anymore. Here and there some last autumn flowers had tilted their little purple or pink heads towards the few rays that managed to reach the ground. A still quiet had descended upon the woods. Almost all of the birds had migrated and those that hadn't kept quiet for the upcoming grim season. The silence was oppressive and even though Zuko had promised to explain, the travelers refrained from speaking with each other for a good amount of time as they proceeded on their way.

Keeping up a good pace, Zuko and Katara followed the trail leading toward the city of Senlin Harbor. Their footsteps were muffled by the springy underground as they followed the neglected path. The wooden signposts along the roadside were weathered. It was clear that the people of Senlin Village didn't take this route if they could help it. The realization added to the silence between them.

Katara listened to the sound of Zuko's Dao swords clicking against his back as he walked beside her. The repetitive clanging of metal against metal somewhat calmed her nerves, which had been severely shocked by Zuko's remark. Pirates… She had hoped she would never come across the likes of them ever again. And now she had to walk straight into their arms and there was no avoiding it: they had to follow the Spirit Princess' trail. If only she had picked a safer place to land… A shiver ran down Katara's spine when she thought about the pirates she had encountered before – the ones she had provoked by stealing a waterbending scroll from them. The thought of meeting them ever again scared the living daylights out of her.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Zuko's husky voice broke the thick silence. "Two days ago I told you about the smugglers of Crescent Island in the Fire Nation. As you said earlier, Crescent Island is the easternmost part of the Fire Nation," he started while maintaining his even stride. Katara nodded silently.

"Right across this island lays Senlin Harbor," Zuko continued a little grimly. "Senlin Harbor is as foul a place, as Senlin Village is peaceful. For more than a century the area between Senlin Harbor and Crescent Island has been a safe haven for smugglers, pirates and other rabble. They've been causing trade a lot of trouble. But," he concluded bitterly, "previous Fire Lords have ignored the problems in this region as they kept themselves otherwise engaged."

Katara let this sink in for a moment. She had never realized that the problems Zuko had to face as a result of the war extended this far. She thought about the pirate city, which had been able to blossom and grow unhindered while the previous Fire Lords remained indifferent to the consequences. Involuntarily, she touched her necklace and asked, "And what measures have the new Fire Lord and the Earth King taken against them?"

Zuko had been looking at her from the corner of his eyes and had noticed the movement of her slender fingers reaching for her necklace. His expression darkened. The gesture told him exactly why there was a look of uneasiness passing over her features right now. Again, he cursed his troubled past.

Zuko set his jaw and replied grimly, "We're working on it, and it is a high priority, but it isn't easy. The city is sheltered by a bay and the power structures are old and very well developed."

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and Katara almost bumped into him. The protest she'd wanted to make died on her lips when she noticed the anxious look with which he turned around.

"If it hadn't been for this lead," he stated on a hard tone, "I would never have considered coming near Senlin Harbor, but as it is, we don't have a choice."

Zuko cast a look at the trail back to Senlin Village behind Katara as he listened to the frustration in his own voice. He sighed. "I guess I just want you to know that we have to be very careful. The atmosphere in the city is highly dangerous and very hostile towards the Fire Nation authorities. It is of the utmost importance that we stay incognito while we're there."

Katara didn't respond as she studied him. His eyes almost pleaded with her to understand the delicacy of the situation. For the somewhat impulsive Fire Nation man she knew him to be, he had put his words with quite some considerateness. But, his eyes told her what his lips hadn't expressed. _His_ life was in danger in this robber's den. And because she accompanied him, the Fire Lord, he feared for her safety, too.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Katara felt her heart melt. Up until now, she had felt a little awkward around her friend who had surprised her by kissing her, though lightly, after which she had spent the night in his arms. But, her shyness washed away by the look in his eyes and she nodded wordlessly to his imploration.

A grateful expression passed over his features and he made a movement to go on, when his eyes flashed across Katara's necklace. He hesitated and then lowered his gaze. "Katara, for what it's worth," he started, "I am deeply sorry for putting those pirates on your path and…"

He was cut off when Katara suddenly put a finger to his lips and said, "Shush, I know. You don't have to say anything." Her ocean blue eyes glistened, pleading with him not to continue.

Zuko had frozen the moment he felt the touch of her fingertips against his mouth and instead of responding he merely counted the seconds that the slight blush crept up to her cheeks until she would draw back. Much too soon, the feeling was gone, leaving only a tingling sensation he knew he would savor for the rest of the day. A wry smile appeared on his lips. "I suppose this won't be the last time I have to thank you for your forgiveness."

Then he turned and began to move down the trail once more. And as Katara followed him on a slower pace, she heard him say softly, "That brilliant plan of mine backfired anyway…"

She couldn't explain the sudden pain stinging her heart.

* * *

The night was spent on the cold, damp woodland soil. The pouring rain had returned and steady drops fell in a monotonous rhythm onto the canvas cover the travelers had thrown over a low branch to create some shelter for the night. Katara had tried bending some of the water out of the ground, but it was still very uncomfortable. Tomorrow, they would arrive at Senlin Harbor.

Before they went to sleep Zuko removed the gold and silver lotus claps from their cloaks, replacing them with plain strings.

"They're valuable," he explained with a solemn expression on his face, "and we mustn't show our bond with the Order of the White Lotus. There are very few members of the Order in Senlin Harbor."

Katara nodded understandingly and watched him as he carefully wrapped the precious clasps in a piece of cloth and hid them under his shirt, close to his heart.

She felt strangely moved by his gesture, as if the care he showed expressed a little of a silent wish for them to stay safe. For a moment, Katara hesitated, then bowed her head and reached behind her neck.

The expression on Zuko's face varied from surprise to something akin to shame when she held out her necklace to him. His eyes wandered from her serious features to the antique stone shimmering weakly in the light of the campfire.

"It's familiar to at least a few of the pirates," Katara said softly, "and the stone has much value."

He didn't respond and when he didn't make any movement to take the necklace, she gently took his hand and placed the jewel in his palm. Protectively, she folded his fingers around it. "Please, keep it safe."

Zuko watched as his hand was closed around the necklace, reminiscent of that moment years ago, when he had found the necklace Katara had lost. Again, he enjoyed the weathered velvet brush the backs of his fingers as he held the Water Tribe jewel. But, this time it was on request of its owner. His heart made a strange little jump as he looked up and nodded determinedly. "I will."

* * *

Darkness was already closing in, when the travelers slowly became aware of the changing scenery around them. Tamarisks replaced the grand pine-trees along the twisting path and in the distance the last traces of the setting sun could be seen through the trunks becoming thinner.

They had almost reached the woodland's border, when Zuko suddenly stepped off the road and, in a few swift movements, climbed the hill across from it. There, he came to a halt and looked down.

Katara had turned around in surprise the moment he'd disappeared from her side and looked up to see his silhouette on the top of the hill, dark against the last rays of the sun. She couldn't tell what he was looking at, but in the way he slightly bowed his head, she could tell that he spotted something important… and not too pleasant.

Warily, she climbed the hill, came to stand next to Zuko and silently followed his gaze. Her stomach dropped. Unfolding below her was the view of a large city beneath them, a considerate part of which was built in the water. Only the thousands little lights gleaming in the darkness betrayed the presence of houses, which were otherwise hidden from view by the mist, which rose from the seemingly bottomless bay. And countless of dilapidated ships lay motionlessly in the harbor. Katara drew in a slow breath and subconsciously searched for Zuko's hand.

"Senlin Harbor," Zuko then said grimly.

* * *

The bleak, far-away sound of the weary bell tolling was the cue for the old, crippled man to shuffle to the gates of Senlin Harbor to close them for the night. It was almost as if the sound of the moldered wood sighing came from the old man himself as he closed the left door and dragged himself to the right one. However, this evening he came to a shaking halt when two figures suddenly appeared before the entrance. His milky eyes narrowed, but as the gates were not yet closed entirely he had no choice but let the strangers enter the city of Senlin Harbor.

A pair of cold, uninterested eyes passed over the pair as they slipped past the old man and his right door, gracing him with a courteous nod. Creakingly, the door closed behind them as they looked around the tacky environment.

They were dressed in dark traveling clothes and while they were very young they looked like seasoned warriors. Their posture betrayed the confidence of highly placed nobility but nothing could be told from their nondescript clothing. The young man was tall and broad-shouldered with messy black hair, which partly hid his chiseled features. His expression was guarded as he scanned his surroundings. He had positioned himself closely behind the slender young woman, an exotic beauty with large blue eyes standing out against the delicate tan of her skin. Her long braid swayed softly as she followed the black-haired man's gaze. A few strands of her dark brown hair, curled in loopies, framed her face.

The piercing, bored eyes narrowed.

Zuko vaguely remembered the city plan from the sole time he had visited this dreadful place. It had been one of those times his uncle couldn't lay hands on his favorite kind of tea on Crescent Island and therefore had felt forced to go to Senlin Harbor instead. A fourteen-year-old Zuko had demanded that his uncle take him into town and as always, a worried Iroh had capitulated. It wasn't until Zuko had grown up that he understood his uncle's hesitations toward his nephew's presence in such a place. Needless to say, the visit had made a big impression on the young prince.

Because of that one visit all those years ago, Zuko was relieved to notice that he still recognized the street pattern and he had to admit that he was grateful for his uncle's indulgence at that time. Though, the old man must have been scared to death for his nephew's wellbeing.

Restlessly, Zuko's eyes wandered across the jumble of streets joining the square, searching for the right street to disappear into, when the hair on the back of his neck raised, telling him that they were being watched. Reflexively, he bowed his head and lowered his gaze, wearing a stony expression as he turned toward Katara.

"We have to get into the streets as soon as possible," Zuko stated on a low voice. "Try not to look them in the eye."

Seeing the warning in his gaze Katara half turned away and Zuko allowed a grim expression to pass over his features momentarily.

'She's too beautiful,' he thought worriedly. Despite her inconspicuous traveling clothes, her elegance and delicate features stood out against the dirty, greasy trash living in this town. And his own tall stature and fierce Fire Nation gaze didn't do much to maintain a low profile either.

He pulled up his hood and Katara followed his example, her eyes wary.

The piercing eyes followed the cloaked and hooded figures as the man took the woman's hand and led her into one of the many narrow streets that wound themselves through the dark city with seemingly no specific logic. Then the owner slowly pushed up himself against the dirty wall and disappeared into the shadows of the alley behind him.

* * *

Upon entering the city Katara had let her gaze wander over the shabby streets stretching out before her as she carefully hid her discomfort behind a cool expression. The city smelled noxious, probably from dead water and moist houses.

She had taken in the crooked, wooden houses, many of them hovering over the narrow, muddy streets and the crowd of suspicious looking people, some of them dressed richly, most of them barely having a thread on them. A few of them had let their gazes wander over her and Zuko suspiciously, their worn faces framed with greasy hair. They were all missing at least one or two limbs. The rags they wore let them fade into the colorless background of the walls.

Then Zuko had taken her hand and directed them towards one of the countless streets before them. Judging by his resolute stride, Katara suspected he knew where he was going. It lifted some of the dread that had nestled in the pit of her stomach upon entering the foul looking city. He obviously had been here before, but it was not a good time to ask about the circumstances.

"Those were guards. They keep an eye on everyone entering the city and will report of anyone they find suspicious." She heard Zuko say next to her, his husky voice quiet and a bit ominous as he adjusted his pace to the crowd. Undoubtedly, he was talking about the unsavory people who had been watching them. The realization made a sting of fear shoot through Katara's stomach.

Zuko firmly held Katara's hand as he silently led them through the crowd. He kept his head down, making sure that his hair fell over his scar, his face hidden deeply in the shadows of his hood.

"Where are we going?" Katara finally whispered under her breath as she scanned the surroundings through her eyelashes. She noticed the several passers-by eying them before they walked on, their gazes showing their dubious interest in the hooded travelers.

"To the harbor," Zuko's voice sounded somewhat muffled next to her. "The neighborhood surrounding it is the original fishing village, before it became a den of robbers. If I remember correctly, there's a place where we can stay that is less repulsive than the rest of the lodgings. And," his watchful gaze swept from one side of the street to the other, "it's near open sea, so it will be easier to escape the city from there."

Katara shivered when her mind passed over possible catastrophes that would make an escape necessary, although she knew he was right. With the sea nearby, the pirates would be no match for the greatest waterbender in the world. Katara could demolish this entire city by her own if she wanted to. The idea reassured her somewhat.

She pulled her cloak closer around her and fell into Zuko's footsteps once more.

Then she noticed it: a feeling as if something or somebody had touched her.

Katara froze but before she realized what was happening she caught the sight of a whirling cloak and she felt that Zuko had left her side.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," she then heard Zuko say on a low voice, his soft tone full of menace.

Katara spun around to see a nasty looking man squinting in mortal fear at a couple of crossed Dao swords, ready to slice his neck. His frozen arm was still extended towards Katara's bag. Widening her eyes, Katara sucked in her breath as she watched Zuko hovering over the terrified thief, as understanding of what had happened, or hadn't happened, slowly started to sink in. She pulled her bag protectively against her body and gasped softly.

Anticipating any possible movement from the thief, Zuko had been watching motionlessly as the man beneath his swords wet himself in fear, sweat dripping from his repulsive features. The man was drunk, he established disgustedly as traces of his alcoholic breath reached Zuko's nose. With unfocused gaze the man stared at the gleaming Dao swords resting against his throat. His blurred mind had not recognized the dangers when he chose the mysterious female stranger to steal from. He had chosen wrongly.

While a dark stain started to spread across the thief's trousers, a considerable amount of people had stopped to watch the unfortunate thief who was completely overpowered by one of the black cloaked figures he had been planning on robbing. Although the inhabitants of Senlin Harbor were accustomed to street fights, the stranger's skill and speed had surprised them and a silence descended upon the busy street as the crowd waited.

Katara's gasp suddenly snapped Zuko out of his concentration and he looked up. His expression hardened when his gaze flickered over the crowd watching him. Immediately, he realized the amount of attention his actions had drawn to the both of them. He cursed inwardly. They got to get out of here quickly.

In the blink of an eye, he had drawn back his swords and stepped back, unmoved when he watched as his sudden retreat caused the man to fall on his back. The man clumsily scrambled back from him and put his hand to his throat, his eyes wide in fear.

Fluidly, Zuko brought his swords together and put them on his back again.

"Consider yourself lucky today," he stated as he cast the man a contemptuous gaze and reached out for Katara's hand. His eyes searched for hers, hoping that she would understand the need to stay close to him. They would have to run.

He felt grateful when she simply put her hand into his with a nod that was indiscernible to the crowd and he closed his fingers around hers. He didn't notice when Katara's attention was drawn to his wrist for a split of a second before she responded to the light tug to her hand.

And before the crowd understood what was happening, the Blue Spirit's stealth and agility had already let the mysterious strangers disappear into the darkness.

* * *

They ran and ran and ran, never looking up nor looking around, through countless streets and alleys as they blindly rounded corners. Remarkably enough, they were still heading for the harbor.

Finally, Zuko judged he had put enough space between them and the crowd and he pulled Katara into the shadows of a dusky alley, trying to catch his breath as he leaned against the wall. With an angry movement he yanked off his hood and let his head hang, his ragged breathing forming clouds in the cold air.

"Scum!" He whispered hoarsely as he clenched his fists.

A bit out of breath herself, Katara stayed silent and watched him as he struggled with his anger. Then she hesitantly reached out to touch his shoulder.

Immediately, he looked up and she met with the fierce, hot-tempered gaze she recognized from old times. But this time it was rooted in a different kind of frustration.

Katara drew back her hand and glanced to the side. "Zuko, I'm sorry. I didn't pay enough attention to my bag."

She had been frightened more than she wanted to admit by Zuko's earlier explanation about the dangers this city held for him especially and she wouldn't forgive herself if he were to reveal his identity because she hadn't been watching out for pickpockets.

She had been awestruck, though, by his swift reflexes to prevent the thief from stealing her bag.

He let her soft words sink in and then shook his head. "Don't be. I'm just… I'm just frustrated we deliberately have to put ourselves in danger by coming to this town."

Their eyes met and after a moment, in which they silently exchanged equally troubled looks, the panic slowly started to subside and a small smile started to form on Zuko's lips. In reaction, Katara's features relaxed as well and as Zuko straightened up, she pulled up her hood, ready to go.

Zuko turned around to check if it was safe to enter the street, when his eye suddenly fell on a disheveled piece of parchment randomly posted up the wall he had been leaning against.

"You can't be serious!" He scowled and tore down the parchment. With a hard stare he looked down on the weathered piece, then lowered it with an angry movement.

"So much for anonymity," he said disgustedly.

Katara, who had spun around at his sudden outburst, now pulled the piece of parchment from his grasp to look.

"Oh no! The painting," she then cringed.

The poster showed a picture of the Young War Heroes, a cheap copy of the painting that had been made shortly after the ending of the war.

General Iroh had pressed them into it. "History has to be etched into memory," the older man had explained himself serenely when the youngsters had finally reconciled themselves to his request.

It had been a disaster. After assembling in Ba Sing Se, the group had begrudgingly struggled into their formal attire. Then they had stubbornly upheld a strained silence, eying each other moodily while they waited for Iroh and the painter to arrive.

At least Katara and Zuko had secretly been glad with the chilling quiet around them as they had tried to suppress the severe headaches this idea of Iroh's had caused them. Zuko had still been cringing when he thought about the fit the normally so indifferent Mai had thrown when she had learned that she wasn't allowed in the painting with Zuko. And Katara had just spent three days trying to get Toph to wear a dress on the painting.

They had waited more than two hours for the painter to arrive and when he finally did, he appeared to be the kind of artist that didn't care to apologize.

With a haughty expression on his blasé features he ignored their angry stares and immediately started to put together his dreamed composition, pushing and pulling the sullen teenagers. Finally, the boys had conventionally ended up standing in the back with the girls being positioned in front of them.

To Aang's abhorrence, the painter had insisted on putting Katara in front of Zuko. Her blue dress much better suited the reds of Zuko's robes, the artist had stated as he brushed aside Aang's complaints. Also, Katara's height would better match Zuko's, while Toph, whose soft green dress complied to his oranges brilliantly, perfectly fitted Aang's. Aang had been furious, but the painter hadn't given in. And so it was done.

The awkwardness and explosiveness of the whole situation still spoke from the poor copy Zuko had torn from the wall. Aang glared at the innocent viewer, resentment dripping from his normally angelic features as Zuko and Katara's expressions showed their embarrassment. And the corners of Toph's mouth were pointing downwards as she stood stiffly next to Aang in her lovely but uncomfortable dress.

Only two people on the painting were staring serenely into the distance. Sokka had subtly put a hand on Suki's waist while standing behind the Kyoshi Warrior dressed in full regalia and they wore a genuine smile on their faces. The only non-benders on the painting.

"Uncle has made copies of it. He must have spread it throughout the nations," Zuko grumbled, closing his eyes in dismay.

"But… I've never seen one before!" Katara's frown deepened as she tried to remember the last time she had seen a notice board.

Zuko shook his head. The picture was old and most likely had been forgotten, while hanging in an abandoned alley. "I suspect those posters have become very popular and that they were torn off by people the minute they were put up. It wouldn't surprise me if most of these are hung up in people's homes, or put in a cabinet… Anyway," he added icily, "we have to double our guard, since apparently, the city knows exactly what we look like."

He was ready to tear up this last remaining copy, but Katara rolled it up before he could put his hands on it. Meticulously, she put the roll in her bag.

When Zuko raised his eyebrow in mockery, Katara stuck her chin in the air. "I'm not used to being portrayed on posters, like you are," she stated defiantly, though the hint of pink gracing her cheeks betrayed her embarrassment. A sudden chuckle escaped him.

"Yeah right, as if wearing a mask on posters counts," he pointed out, remembering the wanted posters for the Blue Spirit she had referred to. For convenience's sake he forgot that both he and his uncle had been portrayed on wanted posters before, without them wearing any masks.

Katara's lips curled into a small smile and she turned around, pulling up her hood again. "Come on, Famous, we have to find this not so repulsive lodging of yours."

* * *

A little while later, they stood in front of a grubby plastered building. It stood out between the unstable constructions surrounding it, being the only building not built out of wood. When the creaking door opened and an aggressive looking man appeared in the doorway, the smell of rancid beer drifted into the street.

Katara didn't dare to look at Zuko but just like her he had tensed up. He followed the man, a customer probably, with close scrutiny as the bulky man spotted them standing in the street.

A faint grin passed over the man's dirty features as his gaze wandered over the dark cloaked figures that silently waited for him to step aside. He straightened up and positioned himself before the door challengingly, ready for a fight.

Until then Zuko and Katara had kept their faces hidden in the shadows of their hoods, but when the man refused to let them pass, Zuko looked up. His almond eyes caught some of the weak light streaming onto the street from the grimy windows and suddenly the man met with a cold, authoritative gaze staring at him from the dark that silently willed him to step aside.

The man backed away slightly under the stranger's imperative gaze and as he licked his lips he cast a nervous glance at the gleaming Dao swords on Zuko's back. Suddenly, it occurred to him that this man, whose watchful posture betrayed there was more to him than just the weary traveler he'd held him to be, could actually take his life. After a moment in which the light of the street lantern deepened the lines of the furious scowl that appeared on the man's weathered face, he lowered his gaze and stepped aside.

"I thought so," Zuko whispered icily and opened the door, making sure to keep Katara on his other side.

When the man dared to look up again, the cloaked strangers had already disappeared inside.

* * *

"Not so repulsive as the other ones, huh?" Katara whispered when she looked around as they waited to report to the reception. The tight knot in her chest was loosening somewhat now that they had managed to get inside of this lodging unharmed. She even felt a little sorry for the trouble seeker. Being stared down by Zuko was something very few people in the world could resist. From under her eyelashes she let her gaze wander from the dimly lit desk to the barroom, which was crowded with sinister men talking and drinking.

"You can imagine what the level of the other lodgings must be." Zuko followed her gaze and his eyes darkened when a provocatively dressed woman, who seemed to be waiting the tables, winked at him and sat down in some man's lap. Zuko turned his back towards the scene in disgust and faced the old man who had suddenly appeared behind the grimy desk, his hunched back barely allowing him to look up at his guests.

"I would like a room for the night, for my wife and me," Zuko said curtly and casually put a hand on Katara's shoulder. She demurely bowed her head in acknowledgement, stifling a smile as she slightly leaned into his touch. He tightened his grip in response.

"Of course, good sir," the man said obsequiously as he picked up a broken-down brush and looked up expectantly. "And what name should I register, good gentleman?"

His hand lingered in the air above a disheveled piece of parchment scrawled with hundreds of names while his eyes wandered over his unusual guests with apparent interest. Although he couldn't quite see their faces hidden in the shadows of the hoods they kept up even inside, he had noticed that they were different from the unsavory people that usually frequented his barroom.

"Lee," Zuko replied stiffly. He had noticed the old man's attention and wished to be free of his curious stare as soon as possible.

Diligently, the old man added the name to the overly crowded parchment and then looked up doubtfully. He didn't believe it possible that this mysterious couple would go by such a simple name and hesitated to put aside the brush.

"Any other names…?" He inquired, not completely succeeding in keeping the curiosity from his wavering voice.

At that moment, the young woman suddenly turned up her eyes and the old man met with a kind, but intense gaze in glistening, ocean blue eyes. He gulped and lowered his gaze.

"That should be enough," Zuko said coldly as he put down some Earth Kingdom gold coins. A greedy glint appeared into the old man's eyes and immediately he picked a key from the board behind him. He didn't dare to look at them again, when he pointed to the worn out stairs.

"Last room to the left, sir. Have a pleasant stay, sir."

* * *

At the end of the somber corridor, Zuko opened the heavy, creaking door that gave entrance to a dusky room, filled with a few bits of ragged furniture. When the travelers stepped inside, they looked around the airless room silently, the look in their eyes reflecting the hopeless atmosphere.

The large space was nearly empty but for a saggy, dark wooden bed and a small cabinet. An old patched bedspread did not completely cover the lumpy mattress underneath. The only light in the room came from a street lantern outside, which tried to peek through the smelly, dusty curtains.

"Looks like we got the suite," Katara smiled amusedly as she put down her bag. The state of this room made her think back longingly of the clean, hospitable room in the gentleman's lodging where they had stayed before they boarded the Fire Nation ship to Kyoshi Island. That seemed like such a long time ago now.

Zuko meticulously locked the door and strode towards the window, checking the direct surroundings for opportunities to escape.

"Ah, we have a room with a view," he dryly noted, as his eyes focused on the clear spots in the thickening mist, showing a glimpse of the moonlit sea behind it. Close enough for Katara to reach, he established in slight relief.

Katara carefully sat down on the bed and a musty smell ascended from the bedspread. She wrinkled her nose. "I hope you're right about this place." It seemed repulsive and dangerous enough to her.

Zuko turned around and leaned against the rusty shutters, his expression serious. "I don't like it here either, but I trust my uncle's judgment on this, Katara. I remember him saying once that this place is the only spot of light in this whole diseased city."

He folded his arms. "Remember when I told you there are few members of the Order of the White Lotus in Senlin Harbor? I know about at least one for sure. Maybe he can help us, because, frankly, I wouldn't like to wander around asking about the Spirit Princess in this town."

He frowned dangerously at the idea and then added grimly, "From what I've heard, this member of the Order apparently likes to spend his evenings in the barroom below, so I would suggest we go downstairs tonight and maybe we can pick up on some valuable information while we're there."

* * *

After warily entering the barroom that evening, the young travelers had managed to conquer a small table with a wide view on the long trestles in a dusky, far away corner of the barroom. As they couldn't wear their cloaks inside without drawing too much attention to them, Zuko and Katara kept their heads down, hiding their faces as much as possible.

They had quietly eaten their soup and rice and now they inconspicuously let their gazes wander over the scenery of drunk men and an occasional woman talking, laughing and fighting as they hoped to see someone who might look like a member of the Order of the White Lotus.

"Would you like something to drink?" A waitress, as such barely distinguishable from the other scarcely dressed women in the room, suddenly had appeared before them.

Zuko looked up to see her eyes pass over him appreciatively, his appearance a far cry from the ugly, weathered pirates and smugglers inhabiting this city. Then her eyes disappointedly rested on Katara, the only female customer in the barroom. He didn't like it.

"Two honey beers please," he said curtly and turned his back to her, ignoring the waitress' surprised gaze. She silently disappeared to get their drinks.

Being a man of the Fire Nation Zuko preferred the blood red wine his nation was famous for, above the Earth Kingdom ales. But, tonight he didn't want to risk the alcohol rising to his head and he knew that water in this kind of places was often a lot filthier than beer. Honey beer, a children's drink, barely contained any alcohol. It was also better not to draw too much attention to his nationality by ordering wine instead of beer in this Earth Kingdom pirates' nest.

When the drinks were brought, Zuko watched with in slight amusement as Katara brought the mug to her lips and tasted hesitantly. Then her face lit up in surprise.

"It's good," she said, "sweet."

A small smile graced Zuko's tense features. "Well, it is a children's beverage."

Katara blushed. "This is the first time I've tasted alcohol. Children at the South Pole drink water or milk and the aquavit is so strong that you have to learn to drink it."

Zuko nodded knowingly. He had tasted the Water Tribe liquor when he had been invited to come to the North Pole for his first state visit, two years ago. The sensation of the aquavit burning its way down his throat had made him cringe and his involuntary cough had set fire to the flower arrangement in front of him. The entire Water Tribe representation had roared with laughter.

He smiled derisively at the memory and Katara smirked back, sipping from her honey beer with a satisfied expression on her face.

It was in the strangely peaceful moment that followed, that Zuko became aware of the traces of another conversation drifting towards their table. "….Fire Lord and the Water Princess… Traveling around the Earth Kingdom… Mother, they are looking for…" A scoff followed the quiet remark.

Zuko's smile fell. His sharp ears had caught upon the mumbled conversation between the two unsavory men sitting at the table behind him. His widening eyes alarmed Katara, who straightened up immediately.

They bent over to each other and their eyes locked as they tried to follow the conversation through the noise surrounding them.

"Appears to be coming to Senlin Harbor as well…" One man whispered on a low voice.

"… great opportunity… to abduct…" The other man mumbled in acknowledgment, a dark tone lacing his voice.

"… will destabilize the Fire Nation…" A hopeful answer.

"… lot of Fire Nation nobility won't care…" The other remarked whisperingly, "… love to see their Fire Lord dead!"

Katara's eyes widened in shock, but Zuko shot her a warning gaze and almost imperceptibly shook his head. This pirate scum didn't tell him any news. He knew there was still a considerable party among his nobility who longed to go back to the old days of Fire Nation suppression. They loathed the young Fire Lord and his new era of love and peace. Three years after the war, he had successfully marginalized them, but he knew better than to consider their convictions history. He believed that they were just biding their time and wouldn't hesitate to seize the opportunity to undermine his authority if it presented itself.

And now the Fire Lord presented the opportunity himself, he thought sarcastically, simply by walking into the arms of a bunch of robbers with plans to abduct him, or worse.

He still had the advantage though, that the men had no idea who they were dealing with. The Fire Lord wasn't to be caught easily, he established wryly, especially now that he knew what to look out for.

Before he and Katara had entered Senlin Harbor it had crossed his mind that perhaps, if he kept his eyes and ears open, he would be able to collect some valuable information about the robbers' den. Information he could use in the campaign to bring safety to this part of the waters. This kind of information however wasn't exactly of the kind he had expected or hoped for.

As the noise in the barroom swelled, Zuko and Katara strained themselves again to listen to the hushed conversation. Apparently, the topic had shifted somewhat toward something, which had happened in the past.

One of the men snickered as the other man spoke quietly. "… when the brat was still a prince…. Quite a temper at the time… Wench who stole that waterbending scroll from us…"

The travelers were suddenly rooted to their spots as they realized that the man speaking was one of the pirates they had encountered before. One of the very people they, for different reasons, had hoped not to see again. Horror filled their eyes as they stared at each other in shock, suddenly unable to not listen to the man continuing his whispered story.

"… Made a deal with us… Lead us to the girl and get the scroll back."

Zuko grimaced as he realized what direction this retelling of this dark page in his personal history would take. Again, fate had created yet another opportunity to remind Katara of the loathsome person he had been. He closed his eyes, ashamed to look Katara in the eye. Why… why did chance always turn against him?

He froze when his fingers, clenched around the mug of honey beer, were suddenly covered by a pair of small, cool hands. They willed him to look up and when he finally did, Katara gazed at him encouragingly. She rolled her eyes and then flashed a glance over his shoulder, motioning him to listen.

A slight smile ghosted over Zuko's lips as he acknowledged her, secretly glad that she seemed to have forgotten to take her hands from his as she concentrated on their eavesdropping. The mumbling from the table behind him reached his ears again.

"… followed the prince and his fat uncle… standing there, playing with that scroll…. Tried to catch her… ran straight into his arms…. 'I'll save you from the pirates' or something… Unbelievably cheesy,'' the pirate commented scornfully.

Although he should have expected this, Zuko couldn't suppress the fierce blush now rushing over his cheeks as his thoughts went back to that night at the riverbank. It had been frightening, infuriating and in a way… seductive. The memory of her standing there, bending in the moonlight, still overshadowed Zuko's memory of the excitement he'd felt upon finally catching the Avatar. He still felt the faint acknowledgment of touching the waterbender for the first time, the surprising urge not to hurt her. The glistening eyes…

Too caught up in his own embarrassment, Zuko didn't notice that Katara had looked away to hide her own blush. The memory of his triumphant smirk still lay fresh in Katara's memory, as was the shock of being so close to him, his grip tight but not painful. The glistening eyes…

"… tied her to a tree and started to bribe the girl with a necklace…" the pirate had continued his story on a hushed tone.

Zuko's blush deepened even more and he lowered his gaze. He remembered it perfectly. Her defiance, her involuntary shiver when he whispered into her ear. The shock on her face when he held out her necklace for her. He remembered what it felt like to smell that fresh scent of water lilies for the first time and the need to tease her, to try her loyalty to the Avatar and to her brother. To have her full attention focused solely on him…

Katara in turn shivered as she remembered the whispers instead of the familiar yelling… his warm breath caressing her skin when he put his arms around her in an almost tender gesture, holding her necklace in place… Her anger at seeing her necklace in the hands of her greatest enemy, who toyed with it as if he didn't understood the value it held to her. Her frustration upon realizing that this encounter had only increased her curiosity about the Fire Prince instead of her loathing…

They looked up simultaneously and two intense gazes, filled with memories of one night at the riverbank, locked.

_'Tell me where he is…'_

_'Go jump in the river…'_

_'Try to understand…'_

Katara's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered the actual words the husky voice had spoken softly into her ear. He had asked for her understanding… Wanted her to know about his reasons to chase the Avatar… Consciously or subconsciously he had reached out for her…

"Already then…" she whispered in shock and a melancholy look settled in Zuko's gaze.

He couldn't explain. He had never been able to explain what it was that made him care for the waterbender's opinions, had made him enjoy fighting her, had made him want her to know about the real him. He only knew that it had started almost immediately after he had met with her and he had never been able to withstand it.

The pirate, oblivious to the young travelers behind them, continued his mumbled story. "…appeared to be her mother's necklace… no idea where he got it from…"

Their gazes met in silence.

_'I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering.'_

_'He stole my mother's necklace!'_

"… walked around the girl… went to stand behind her… held the necklace in front of her, teased her… Could have sworn our little prince was in love with that waterbending girl…" The pirate scoffed and spit on the floor.

Zuko suddenly felt as if his breath was knocked out of him as he watched Katara's hand reach for her absent necklace automatically. A sign of her trying to calm down herself, he knew from long ago. She didn't say anything, just stared at him in disbelief, while he remained frozen in his seat, unable, for more than one reason, to deny the pirates' words. The humiliation burned in his crimson colored ears and he swallowed thickly. This could not be happening.

"And the girl?" The other pirate asked.

"… Water Princess now… the one traveling with him. Interesting… Didn't seem too interested back then…"

Zuko's heart made a painful jolt and then sank as Katara lowered her gaze. He silently pleaded her to look up, to react, to somehow negate the pirate's words.

"Although…"

Katara's head jerked up, her eyes wide in panic.

"… Looked like playing a game with him… Like hide and explode… even seemed to smirk when she asked about her necklace…"

Now it was Zuko's turn to widen his eyes as he remembered. It had seemed so indeed.

"…Always like it… men… following them around, " the other pirate acknowledged.

A deep crimson spread over Katara's cheeks and her gaze practically begged Zuko not to believe the pirate's words. She had not been playing with him. That was all… wrong.

But Zuko didn't care. Everything was better than those two deadly words, which had felt like Azula's lightening hitting him in the heart. Not interested… As Zuko tried to forget about those words, traces of the conversation kept drifting over to their small table. Then some of the muffled words drew his attention and he paled.

"Of course… miserable failure… Avatar escaped, no waterbending scroll. Boss wasn't too happy… met with Admiral Zhao… very interested in our little encounter with Prince Zuko…"

Katara narrowed her eyes, frowning in surprise as she opened in her mouth to say something to Zuko only to close it again. Her gaze crossed to Zuko and suddenly she noticed that he hadn't looked up again since the pirate had continued his muffled story. He sat with his head slightly bowed and his hand involuntarily squeezed his other arm tightly. All color had drained from his face as he listened closely. He seemed to suspect what was coming next.

"… Ship docked at the harbor… crew taken away by Zhao…"

Her heart took on a more nervous pace when it started to dawn on Katara what turn this conversation had taken. Somewhere after the whole ordeal with the waterbending scroll, Team Avatar had noticed that the Fire Prince following them suddenly didn't seem to have a ship at his disposal anymore. Now, she understood that the pirates had met with the ruthless Admiral Zhao and that he had something to do with it. The hollow feeling in her stomach grew stronger as she returned her worried gaze to Zuko.

He looked up with a strange, almost absent, expression on his features when the pirate, oblivious to their presence, concluded with malicious delight, "…made all the preparations and waited… Saw the fat general leave the ship… waited and when he came on board… Boom!"

As the pirates burst into laughter and toasted loudly, the color drained from Katara's features and everything started to blur. This could not be true.

Boom! The word echoed in her ears. Had Zhao really assigned those pirates to... had they really tried to…? She couldn't even think the words. Nausea washed over her when she remembered her encounter with Zuko at the North Pole. His face had been bruised and minor burns had been strewn around his head. Katara's subconsciously clenched fists started to tremble as she saw the truth acknowledged in Zuko's gaze, honest and sad…

Then the awful truth started to sink in. They had tried to kill Zuko. An attempt he miraculously had managed to survive. If it hadn't been for his sharp senses, he would not have been sitting across from her now. The pain this knowledge caused her unexpectedly brought out a raging fury. With a jerk she pushed back her chair and as her hand shot towards her water pouch a murderous glint appeared in her eyes.

At that moment, Zuko's hands shot out and grabbed her arms, his strong hold blocking her movement to stand up, as his gaze suddenly seemed to burn with fire. She froze, her scowl warning him to let go of her, but in response his eyes widened further and his iron grip tightened even further.

"No!" He mouthed to her as his hands subconsciously started to heat up under the pressure. They could not risk exposure!

For several moments they looked at each other in a silent struggle until finally, the rage in Katara's eyes subsided and Zuko felt Katara's arm muscles slacken. He had to suppress a sigh in relief when she allowed him to push her back in her chair again. Her hands still shook from the emotion she was fighting to suppress and suddenly her eyes glistened with tears.

Luckily, the pirates behind them hadn't heard the commotion, Zuko immediately established, as they were still laughing and bragging over almost having killed the Fire Lord.

As Katara struggled to ignore the pirates, Zuko understood what she felt right now, as he too had felt the hurt and the rage. But, already a long time ago, he had made peace with what had happened and the experience had actually helped him to maintain his cool when dealing with the party of nobles opposing their new Fire Lord. Now, he had been shocked to finally know who had been behind the assault, but even more he was surprised by the intensity of Katara's reaction as he warily let go of her arms and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. A reaction that, despite the grave reason, caused his heart to skip a beat, when he came to the realization how much she cared for him. Perhaps not in the way his sub conscience had started to hope for, but nevertheless the feeling ran deeper than he had ever held possible. He couldn't help but smile encouragingly when she finally looked up with an unemotional expression in her blue eyes.

At that moment, a drunk man clashed roughly with their table, causing him to stumble and almost fall.

Reflexively, Zuko's hand shot to his swords, ready to fight the lowlife he suspected had figured out their identities and tried to expose them. His hand clenched the hilt of one of the Dao swords as he bent down and hauled up the nasty looking drunk that had collided with their table and now lay on the floor. With a drowsy gaze in his small eyes, the man looked up at them.

Then Katara gasped. It was the man who had tried to steal her bag this afternoon.

Zuko shot him a murderous look, but was unpleasantly surprised when this couldn't frighten the thief this time.

His cracked lips widened in a toothless, crooked form of a smile. "We meet again," he slurred in surprise as he staggered on his feet. He bent over and for a moment their breaths were taken away by the damp of alcohol emanating from his mouth. "The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."

* * *

**A/N:**_ I want to thank not only everyone who reviewed and liked the chapter, but also all those people who fav the story or put an alert on it. I very much appreciate it! And I'm so happy you have brought the number of reviews above 100! Wow! As always, I would like to thank my beta Lieta for her patience with lengthy chapters like this one. _

_I very much loved the enthusiastic reactions to Zuko ligh__tly(!) kissing Katara. It shows me how much you were waiting for that to happen. And it was still so hesitant! _

_I also would like to add another thing concerning Mai. Katie 23 pointed out in her review that it's possible to conclude from the course of certain events, that Mai is pregnant. I think it's a very clever observation. However, it wasn't my intent__ion to make it seem like Mai is pregnant. Although Sokka and Suki at one point must have had a wonderful evening in the tent, Avatar is the kind of show where sex only appears after a couple is married (it's a kids show, the setting an old-fashioned Asia etc.) and since Zuko hasn't even proposed to Mai (Iroh very cleverly prevented that by sending Zuko away with Katara), she isn't pregnant. I very much try to let this story fit the actual show as much as possible. _

_Since it's a very good question, I thought I'd put my answer to Katie 23 in my author's comment for everyon__e to read. _

_About this chapter: the honey beer was a drink for children in Mediaeval western Europe, by absence of good and clean drinking water. Of course I had to refer to the episode The Waterbending Scroll, which is like the most essential episode for all Zutarians. This chapter looks back on this episode from a pirate's perspective. I loved to write Zuko and Katara's reaction to their involuntary eavesdropping._

_Update __will be next week and happy Valentine's Day__!_


	24. Clocks

**Fall of the White Lotus **

**Chapter 24: Clocks**

Music: Within Temptation, Intro The Silent Force

* * *

… _When the world was still young and the peoples living in it had yet to divide themselves, the Avatar Cycle came into existence. A small group of people of all four nations pledged their allegiance to the elemental spirits, promising to help the Avatar with all their might. _

_In honor of that promise, the elemental spirits gave them a flower, a lotus flower, blessed with powers from the Spirit World, that would strengthen the keepers of the Avatar Cycle. As long as the White Lotus remained unharmed, the organization protecting her would blossom and grow. Through the ages, it would expand with members who were both wise and noble and who would carry the message of peace and unity throughout the generations. Modest people, who, with awareness of their own limitations, humbly strived to reach the one thing both the Avatar and the Order of the White Lotus stood for: purity…_

* * *

... Or so Katara had thought. Until now. Her mouth fell open when the drunk man staggered in front of the table she shared with Zuko and tried to perform what looked like a failed form of the Order's secret bow.

Speechlessly, she watched as Zuko's hand shot out and grabbed the man by the shoulder, harshly pushing him down onto his knees. Her traveling companion didn't seem to have lost his presence of mind like she had. His golden eyes shot fire as he bent over and snarled something at the thief through clenched teeth. In response, the shabby man looked up at him with fear in his permanently blurred gaze and to Katara's horror the first thing she felt bubbling up after she recovered from the shock, was laughter.

This man… this thief, was he the member of the Order they had to turn to for help? Her gaze passed over the man's decrepit posture, as he remained on his knees under Zuko's iron grip, his whole appearance breathing criminality. The only spot of light in this spirit's forsaken town, the sole representation of the Order of the White Lotus. A thief. And a drunken one at that.

Unstoppably, a grin started to spread across her face, until she raised up her gaze. Her eyes widened in alarm when she was met with countless stares from people all across the barroom who had broken off their conversations and turned around. With brooding gazes they followed the thief's strange behavior, an unusual silence descending upon the normally boisterous barroom.

To Katara's horror, they had also drawn the attention of the pirates behind Zuko. One of them cocked his head to the side to look past the other and shot a piercing glance at them, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Katara's stomach dropped when she recognized him. It was the barker. The one who had lured Aang, Sokka and her into the pirate ship back then. Katara drew in a sharp breath when his gaze turned towards her. She ducked her head just before he could meet her eyes.

"Lee," she hissed, keeping her head down as she looked at Zuko through her eyelashes. "Lee!" Her repeated whisper sounded harsh now, the panic giving a rough edge to her voice.

Zuko looked up and immediately saw the countless eyes fixed on them - curious, suspicious, hostile. He reacted almost instantly.

"You're coming with us," he hissed dangerously to the thief and hauled him up. He stood up in the blink of an eye while assuring himself that Katara was following him.

"Hey!" someone grumbled, but Zuko and Katara didn't respond as they hastened towards the door. As they crossed the barroom, more and more conversations were broken off and eyes turned towards them.

Katara's heart was in her throat and she tried not to look them in the eye as she stayed one step behind Zuko, her gaze fixed on the exit instead. It barely took them a minute to reach the doors but, as a hostile murmur started to rise around them, it seemed to take forever.

Finally, Zuko threw open the doors, and pushed the thief into the hallway. In one fluid movement he turned to let Katara pass him and closed the door behind them. His gaze remained fixed on the sad heap of man lying on the floor and didn't see when Katara cast a last glance over her shoulder before the door fell shut.

What she saw made her blood run cold. As most of the other people had already lost interest in what they suspected to be an ordinary settling of scores, two piercing gazes had remained fixed on the door. And she knew that they had been recognized.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Zuko had pushed the thief into the only chair in the somber room upstairs and now loomed over the drunk with a murderous look in his eyes. His hissing tone of voice was laced with pure rage as he repeated, "What the hell were you thinking, performing the bow of the White Lotus in a barroom full of pirates?"

The thief writhed under his furious stare but didn't react. Abruptly, Zuko straightened up and fixed the thief with a hard stare to which the man crouched only deeper into the chair.

But, Zuko was unmoved by the drunk's fear. He pressed his lips into a thine line before he said, "Do you have any idea of the danger you have put us in?" His voice was softer now, more controlled, but even the more dangerous, considering the withering look in his eyes.

Again, the thief didn't respond but merely looked at him with a frightened gaze in his rapidly sobering eyes.

At that moment, a small hand was put on Zuko's forearm and he was momentarily distracted from his anger.

"Lee, he doesn't know who we are," Katara tried to reason with him, her voice soft and calming as she tried to catch his gaze.

For a moment, Zuko let her words sink in and he had to admit the truth in Katara's words. The thief had somehow linked them to the Order of the White Lotus but he didn't know who they were.

But, the thief, surprisingly, didn't agree with Katara.

For the first time since Zuko had dragged him into this inn room, he straightened up somewhat and with an indignant expression in his bloodshot eyes, he looked up at them. "Of course I know who you are! You are members of the Order of the White Lotus. Apprentices of the Grandmaster himself, who have seen the White Lotus…" he ended reverently as he scrambled up and made a swaying bow.

"How do you know about that?" His little speech was a shock to Katara, but the thief only scoffed.

"I may be a drunk, but I know a member of the Order when I see one. A member of the Order of the White Lotus is liberated from the boundaries that tie him to one element. And as far as the revered White Lotus is concerned… I've only heard about it in the great legends of the Order, but I can see in your eyes you have actually seen her. Her wisdom lingers in the gazes of the ones who were deemed worthy to behold her sight. Therefore, I bow to you, high members of the Order."

Zuko silently watched the man staggering in front of him and he had to admit he was impressed. He had never expected this man to be this perceptive because of his obvious addiction to other spirits than the ones he served within the Order. None the less…

"So, if he's a member of the Order," Katara hopefully broke the silence and both men looked up, "then maybe he wasn't trying to steal my bag after all." Clearly, her thoughts had wandered along a different path.

Zuko shook his head at her words. That was just like Katara, always trying to find the good in people. Though it was one of the traits he admired the most about her, he could still be surprised by her deep-rooted trust in people she had just met.

The thief seemed to take Zuko's reaction as a confirmation of his own opinion on Katara's naïveté.

"Actually, I was trying to steal your bag," he said cheerfully and when Katara's face fell, he shrugged. "Being a member of the Order doesn't fill my stomach and you looked like rich people to me."

That brought Zuko back to the point he'd started at. "Obviously, you still don't know who we are," he established coldly, "but since you appear to be the one we have to turn to for help, you might as well know."

He ran a hand through his hair and swept back the black bangs which had successfully hidden most of the marred part of his face from view. Until now. The determined movement revealed his fiery scar, granting the thief the sight of his golden gaze, too. "Maybe this will refresh your memory."

For an indivisible moment, the thief's stare was glued to Zuko's marred features, distracted by the daunting sight, as was everyone's reaction at first, but then his mouth fell open as realization hit him.

"The Grandmaster's nephew…" he gasped. "You were with him in Senlin Harbor five years ago…"

Then he turned ashen as his light brown eyes widened in shock. "But… but… if you are the Grandmaster's nephew then you are…" His voice broke off as he kowtowed to the ground. "My Lord, I'm deeply sorry I didn't recognize Your Majesty. I merely recognized the Grandmaster's apprentices, but did not recognize you until now. I beg for your forgiveness, Your Majesty. Please accept my sincerest apologies."

For a moment, Zuko was dumbfounded when the thief unexpectedly humbled himself before him. He didn't exactly know what he had expected after revealing his identity, but certainly not this. Up until now, it hadn't occurred to him that the thief was, in fact, a Fire Nation subject. But, as he looked down on the kowtowing man he had to admit that he could hardly distinguish the nationalities of the people living in Senlin Harbor at all.

Helplessly, he looked up at Katara, who seemed equally surprised but nodded encouragingly at him.

"That's alright, you can get up now," Zuko finally sighed. "Actually, I'm glad you didn't recognize me before. It means the other customers probably haven't either."

Katara's gaze darkened at his words and bowed her head. She hated to burst his bubble. "I'm afraid it's too late for that, Zuko," she said softly, dropping his now useless alias, "the storyteller behind us turned out to be the barker of the pirate ship I took the waterbending scroll from. He recognized us."

Zuko's head snapped up and his gaze flashed in her direction. "Are you sure?"

He hoped that he had misunderstood, but to his dismay Katara nodded dejectedly. "I saw his expression before we left the barroom. There was no mistake about it. He recognized us."

Her words made Zuko scowl at the ground as he squeezed shut his eyes. He resisted the urge to growl. What a mess they had gotten themselves into. Reflexively, he cast a look at the window, behind which lay the sea, hidden behind the fog.

"So, what do we do now?" He kept his voice even, but Katara noticed that his fists were curled. "I won't sit around and wait for those pirates to 'abduct the Fire Lord'."

"Actually, I think you should," the thief contradicted him and Zuko turned around with a hard stare on his features.

The thief wobbly tried to rise from his kneeled position on the floor and ever the caring person she was, Katara immediately rushed to his aid.

Zuko's gaze darkened and the corner of his mouth twitched in displeasure as the man eagerly accepted the beautiful Water Princess' help and flashed her a toothless smile.

"Thank you, Your Highness," he panted. "You do honor to the gentle reputation of your people."

"It's not your place to pass judgment on the honor of the Water Tribes, thief," Zuko reprimanded him sharply, ignoring Katara's disapproving gaze at his harsh words.

He didn't have the patience for the repulsive man's fooling around. Especially with Katara, who sometimes was much too trusting for her own good. Their lives were at stake, while fate had already left them with no choice than to trust the one person he would trust the least of all in the Order.

"You were saying?" he curtly reminded the man as his eyes wandered restlessly towards the door, expecting the pirates to come barging in any time now.

The thief nodded and quickly shuffled away a little from Katara. Best not to make his Fire Lord angry with him again.

Then he looked up with a surprisingly sharp gaze which temporarily replaced the alcoholic blur in his eyes. A new authority seemed to come over him, when he said, "The last thing we need right now is for you people to walk around Senlin Harbor, now that those pirates know that you're here. You may know enough of this city to have found this lodging, but I can tell you, these pirates know this town like the back of their hands and they won't stop until they catch you… which they will, for certain," he concluded emphatically, his rough voice suddenly stern as he looked pointedly at Zuko, who scowled at his words. The man heavily underestimated the skill of the Blue Spirit.

But, Zuko also knew the man was right. There was no way they could manage to stay out of the pirates' hands, when they had benders of all three elements among them. Not with a town of thousands against them. Unless they wanted to destroy the entire city.

"I think it's best if I go for another drink and pay off the innkeeper some more," the thief added, holding out his hand, "and after you've slept for a few hours, I'll take you to the place where the Spirit Princess was seen last before she left the city."

"You know about that?" Katara whispered in amazement.

The man smiled indulgently. "Of course. Aren't you on a search for the Fire Lord's mother?" He asked meaningfully, which caused Zuko to raise his brow. Katara's gaze trailed toward Zuko.

"Of course, you already know by now," the thief elaborated as he put the gold coins Zuko flatly gave him in his pocket, "that the Spirit Princess isn't, in fact, a spirit. That's what people have made of her. She's a woman and she's very much real… I seemed to be the only person standing on the quay that day, who saw beyond her beauty to notice the sadness in her eyes…"

While the thief's voice trailed away and he lost himself in his memory, Katara anxiously studied Zuko's reaction. His face had remained unreadable as he quietly listened to the man's words.

But then he spoke up. "And the nine helpers?"

Not the question she had expected, Katara thought disappointedly and her gaze darkened in frustration.

"Members of the Order of the White Lotus," the thief answered matter-of-factly, "that's why they were all wearing dark blue cloaks. Young, very talented benders of Fire Nation descent, recruited from noble houses with close ties with the Order. They are under the command of the Grandmaster, but they are loyal to the person they are assigned to protect."

He made a step backwards and made a Fire Nation bow. "If you will excuse me now… I have things to do. Get some sleep. You will need it. Goodnight my Lord… my Lady."

He disappeared with a grin on his face.

* * *

For a moment, there was only silence as Zuko locked the door, then leaned his forehead against the cool wooden structure. He clenched his teeth.

That drunkard took the liberty granted to him much too far. The insolence of referring to Katara as the Fire Lady, insinuating… But, to his own embarrassment, he had to acknowledge that the very thought had his pulse racing, knowing that the thief had merely put a name to a nameless feeling he already knew existed in his heart, but feared to acknowledge. Despite his poor condition, the thief had seen right through him. Fire Lady…

Katara's thoughts were occupied with something completely different, as she remained oblivious of possible meanings behind the thief's words.

"Zuko…" The firebender heard her say hesitantly, pulling him out of his thoughts as she came to stand behind him. Zuko stiffened. He knew what she was going to say and he wasn't ready for it. Not right now.

"I don't want to hear it, Katara," he responded dismissively, irritation lacing his voice.

But, when he turned around he met with a sad and somewhat reproving expression in brilliant blue eyes and he sighed in regret. "Please…" he added as he put his hands on her shoulders.

"All right then." Katara's gaze softened as she looked up into his tormented one. "But you can't continue ignoring the facts for much longer, Zuko."

She studied his face, searching for any trace of acknowledgement and he bowed his head.

"I know. I just… don't want to get my hopes up…"

Katara sighed. Knowing what she asked of him, she couldn't blame him. Gently, she tucked a strand of his hair behind his damaged ear. For a moment, her fingers trailed along his cheek before she let her hand fall down again.

"I understand, but I feel this is going to be all right," she said softly and after a split second of hesitance, she pulled him into a comforting embrace. He responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and she closed her eyes. As she listened to the sound of his heart, Katara secretly enjoyed the feeling of his warm body against hers and it was with some reluctance that she let go and went to inspect the bed.

She didn't see the longing look that briefly passed over Zuko's features as she determinedly threw back the bedspread. A musty smell spread through the entire room and caused Zuko to cough. A few flames involuntarily escaped his lips.

"Sorry," he mumbled guiltily as smoke was added to the already thick, dusty air. Katara didn't comment on it but watched him sympathetically when Zuko crossed the room and opened one of the shutters to let in some fresh air.

"The sheets look clean," Katara then established, taking some of the rough linen between her fingers as Zuko seized the opportunity to scan the surroundings for anything suspicious.

"Good," Zuko sighed, "at least we won't be sleeping on the floor this night, then."

A few moments later, they tiredly slid under the covers and immediately their faces distorted as they established that this bumpy mattress was even worse than Lee's haystack.

Zuko carefully adjusted himself and felt his heart jump up like every time Katara's slender form curled up against his. He couldn't suppress the smile in the darkness as her head came to rest on his shoulder trustingly, the way they had become accustomed to on this journey. A cool hand was placed on his bare chest, calming the warm skin underneath as Katara tucked her head under his chin.

Ever since that night in the gentleman's lodging, where she had unconsciously touched the scar near his heart, he had become used to Katara's hand gently resting on his chest, when she slept in his arms. She never put her hand over his speeding heart, but slightly more to the middle, to where a fiery red, star shaped scar marked the perfect, pale skin.

Zuko slightly bowed his head to take in the scent of her hair, so fresh in comparison to the mustiness around them. As always, he listened to her light breathing, which would lull him to sleep in no time until he was startled by the feather light caress of her fingers grazing the uneven skin of his scar. Never before had she touched the fierce star-shape that she had healed in this way, but now he held his breath as her fingertips trailed the rigged edges with the utmost tenderness.

As Katara felt his breathing hitch as a result of her unexpected touch, she allowed herself a sad smile that he couldn't see in the darkness. Her thoughts went back to the moment Azula had turned around and aimed for the waterbender observing the Agni Kai between the Fire Princess and her older brother. She remembered the triumphant, mean glint in Azula's eyes when she realized she had found the weak spot in her brother's perfect defense. And had made use of it.

It hadn't been like Zuko had wanted to catch that bolt of lightning full on to his chest. When he had thrown himself between Katara and the lightning bolt, he had lifted his arm in an attempt to redirect the assault. But he had neither been ready nor concentrated.

Katara still remembered the panic she had seen in his eyes before he fell down, being hit in the heart. The fourth chakra, of grief... and love. Thank La, she hadn't needed another vial of water from the Spirit Oasis to heal this wound.

She had saved his life, but the star shaped scar was always there to remind her of how limited her abilities had been, that she had only partly been able to return what he had done for her. The scar, though mostly hidden by Zuko's clothes, had become a stilled marking of the moment that Katara had come to realize the chafing limitedness of her previous objectives when it came to her waterbending aspirations. So focused had she been on learning the warrior techniques from Master Pakku, that she had only barely picked up the basics from what was taught in Yugoda's Healing Hut. But, as she saw life returning to Zuko's eyes and his features contorted in a painful grimace, she came to understand that the most important waterbending techniques were in fact the ones that could heal a person she cared about.

So, when night had fallen and they had laid themselves to rest, her hand was drawn inevitably to the place near his heart where the wound had been closed in a clumsy way, by the only female waterbender in the world who had not been fully trained by Yugoda. Somehow, covering the warm skin with the cool palm of her hand made Katara feel like she could repair some of the damage, as the waterbending healing master she'd finally become shortly after the end of the war.

Zuko had become completely still under her touch, afraid that she would draw back if an unexpected movement broke the spell. For a moment, all dangers had disappeared to the edges of his conscience as he enjoyed the tender feeling.

"Doesn't it bother you?" A soft voice then asked quietly from where Katara's head rested on his collar bone. It sounded guilty. She had neither been able to prevent nor cure a further marring of his body.

"No, it doesn't," he replied equally quiet as he smiled against the invisible ceiling, a tender gaze in his golden eyes which could have told her not to feel guilty if she'd been able to see it.

"I would never want to lose _this scar_," he then added softly, putting only a slight emphasis on the last two words. His voice betrayed the importance the events of three years ago still held to him, more so than the events of six years ago.

In an attempt to underscore his words, he hesitantly curled his hand around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. His heart made an absurd leap of joy when she snuggled closer into his hold in response.

Katara's heart fluttered when she felt how Zuko pulled her in reassuringly and reflexively she closed some of the distance between them. Her fingers grazing the scar tissue on his chest stilled as she stared into the darkness with wide open eyes, touched by his confession. The simple worlds revealed a world of emotion to her, which she had never considered before, but sent a weak, tingling sensation through her stomach. A feeling which was deepened when Zuko lifted his hand from her shoulder and his fingers buried themselves in her soft curls instead.

"Goodnight, Katara. Try to get some rest. We'll probably need it." She heard him mumble drowsily and the gentle warmth emanating from his hand on her head, surprisingly calmed her down. Wearily, Katara closed her eyes.

"It probably wouldn't have worked anyway," she whispered quietly to herself before she lifted her hand from his scar and put it around his waist in advance. And with a smile gracing her lips she drifted to sleep, too.

* * *

Hardly three hours later they woke up with a start, when someone pounded harshly on their door. In the blink of an eye Zuko had jumped out of bed and was pressing his ear against the door as Katara's eyes fluttered open. Looking up drowsily, she noticed the darkness behind the cracks of the shutters. It must still be night.

"It's only one," Zuko mouthed to Katara who went to stand across of him with a grim expression on her features, her water pouch ready.

"Who is it," Zuko asked quietly, twisting his voice to prevent recognition.

"It's me!" Someone hissed from the other side of the door and for a moment Zuko and Katara looked at each other doubtfully.

"Who?" Zuko then asked in that strange voice again.

The person on the other side hesitated, then said, "The drunk… Look, just let me in, please. They are coming for you!"

The following moment, the door swung open and the thief tumbled into the lodging's suite, facing a Water Princess wearing nothing but her undergarment and a Fire Lord who only just grabbed his shirt from the bed after he had locked the door again. Warily, Katara slid out of her stance and neatly caught the shirt and trousers Zuko threw in her direction.

"Maybe it'll be a good thing if you tell us your name, before you explain what's happening," Zuko stated. Determinedly, he positioned himself between his traveling companion and the thief, blocking the man's view on the princess getting dressed, as he swiftly tied his sleeves around his wrists.

The man hastily averted his gaze to the young man fastening his cloak and made a step backwards.

"It's Black Clock, actually," he said as he straightened his clothing, sounding a little proud. The influence of the alcohol had subsided and he could remain standing without help now. Apparently, he hadn't drowned all of the gold coins Zuko had given him.

Suddenly, Zuko could see a glimpse of what the man had been in a far away past, a proud and clever member of the Order, before the alcohol had caught upon him.

"Like the beetle?" A head full of wild curls appeared from behind Zuko's back, a curious expression in brilliant blue eyes, before Katara stepped into sight, fully dressed now. She brushed Zuko's arm in acknowledgment when he presented her with her cloak. Then she braided her hair in an instant.

The man nodded vigorously. "Exactly like the beetle. Very beneficial creatures, they are. They help to control garden pests. It's my name ever since… ever since I live in Senlin Harbor. The Grandmaster laughed when he first heard about it and tried to persuade me into letting him help me get my life back on track again, but that simply won't work for me."

He grinned his toothless grin again. "Now the Grandmaster says he's glad to have a black clock on the watch for him in Senlin Harbor, the largest garden pest in the entire Earth Kingdom."

A loud thudding in the corridor made the three of them jerk up their heads.

"They're here!" Black Clock cried in panic. "That bastard of an innkeeper… There's no way we can escape from this room."

"It looks like the pirates paid him more," Zuko remarked dryly and he shot Katara a meaningful gaze as he swung his swords over his back and picked up his traveling bag. He went over to the window. Katara nodded and picked up her bag as well.

"Time to leave," she called to the trembling thief, who spun around.

"Leave…?" he replied with a cracking voice as Zuko opened the old shutters. Katara flashed Black Clock a smirk and opened her water pouch.

A glistening stream of water leaped out of the window, forming a brilliant ice-slide to the street below. With a fluid movement, Katara jumped on the ice and elegantly glided down, the ice itself moving her downwards.

Then Zuko leaped upon the ice as well and steadily let himself glide off the ice-slide by temporarily melting the ice underneath his feet. The ease with which he moved betrayed that he had done this before. Quite an unusual trait for a firebender.

The thief swallowed as he saw the distance between him and the street below, feeling nausea coming up. He wasn't a bender and his departure wouldn't be as graceful and safe as those of the people who stood below and pulled up their hoods as they gazed upwards with impatient gazes.

A loud pounding on the door then made Black Clock look back in fear. That was the moment the old door yielded and a group of pirates burst into the room.

Outside, an icy drizzle started to fall, quickly intensifying into steadfast rain until the silent, cloaked figures standing in the dark were completely drenched.

Zuko looked up at the window again, his gaze anxious. "I hope they didn't step on him," he commented grimly. His dark humor stayed unacknowledged by Katara as she followed his gaze worriedly.

At that moment, the thief appeared in the window and clumsily stepped on the slide. The moment he touched the ice he slipped and fell down painfully. Zuko and Katara cringed when he glided down the ice-slide on his behind and crashed onto the paving stones.

The pirates who had forced themselves into the room jumped for the window, but before any of them could enter the slide, the stream of water had already disappeared into Katara's water pouch. Zuko yanked up Black Clock and the pirates cursed loudly while they watched them disappear into the darkness of the night.

* * *

**A/N:** _I so was thrilled to read in your reviews that so many of you were surprised when the drunk appeared to be a member of the Order of the White Lotus. Mission accomplished ;-). __Also, I loved that you appreciated the scene with Zuko and Katara eavesdropping on the pirates. It was so much fun to write the scene from the pirate's perspective and I giggled when I wrote the "unbelievably cheesy" part, just like when I wrote the Blue Spirit-Spirit Princess comparison. And... I promise to write more kisses..._

_I also love when someone tells me she has reread the story a few times or that the story supposed to be turned into a book or even a movie (Season 4 of Avatar: Fall of the White Lotus, can you imagine?) it always make me fall off my chair in joy when I read them. It's all you can dream of when writing a fanfic. _

_About this chapter: __I couldn't do much with this week's prompt in the classical sense of the word Clocks (I didn't want to bring up solstice at this point; it would be too much of a repetition of the first season of Avatar, since the whole Winter Solstice ordeal happened around the same time as when they met with the pirates), so I was overjoyed when I found out about this black beetle that's called the black clock. This little creature perfectly fits the drunken member of the Order in the story. Zuko's wry joke at the end of the chapter comes from children's folklore stating that the black clock is the rain beetle: if you step on it, it will cause rain._

___I would like to thank my beta Lieta for her dedication to the story. She even continues to correct chapters when she's on holiday. I'm really grateful._

_Update will be next week and I hope you liked this chapter!_


	25. Keepsake

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 25: Keepsake**

Music: Two Steps From Hell, United We Stand – Divided We Fall

* * *

To Zuko and Katara's surprise Black Clock appeared to be an amazingly good runner, despite his bad condition. He managed to keep up with them with no apparent difficulty and even outran them while pointing out the small alley. The next moment he had disappeared.

The travelers shared a disbelieving gaze and rushed after him into the dark alley. Zuko was the first to perceive the dull glimmer in the thief's eyes, created by the dim moonlight, indicating that Black Clock had turned around and waited for them. The young man came to sudden stop and, stepping aside, he only barely prevented Katara from bumping into the thief.

The waterbender gave a muffled yelp when Zuko caught her in his outstretched arms and momentarily pressed her against him to stabilize the both of them. She had not noticed that Black Clock was standing perfectly still in the middle of the road.

As Zuko steadied her, Katara was acutely aware of his embrace and she reeled. But, to her embarrassment, he didn't seem to notice the confusing effect he had had on her when he released her with a curt nod. To distract herself, she pulled her cloak tighter around her and cast Black Clock an indulgent smile.

"Well, you couldn't glide down an ice-slide if your life depended on it, but you sure know how to run," she casually remarked.

Black Clock grinned back a little sheepishly. "Ah well… I know I don't look like I'd be this fast, but a thief learns to run… It's the most essential defense mechanism he's got." He grimaced. "Of course such experience proves to be useless when one decides to rob the Fire Lord…"

This elicited an involuntary smile from Zuko, but he refrained from commenting on it.

"So, what do we do now?" Katara asked as her gaze flashed restlessly towards the street outside the alley, where the unnerving sound of a group of pirates on pursuit became louder with every second. It would only be a matter of minutes before the pirates caught up with them.

"I'll bring you to the northern gates, as I was planning to. We have a good chance of staying ahead of them," the thief replied, though he frowned and the travelers followed the worried gaze he cast into the darkness behind them.

Zuko pulled up his hood and shifted the swords resting on his back. "Say which way and we will follow you." His determined tone of voice betrayed that what doubts he had had about the thief had disappeared.

As Black Clock seemed to grow a little under the implicit token of appreciation, Katara allowed herself a quiet smile before she mirrored Zuko and pulled her hood.

Then the thief plunged forward. "This way."

* * *

Abandoning themselves to Black Clock's knowledge of the pirate town, the travelers blindly followed the thief through countless twisting streets and dark alleys. After a few confusing turns, in which they sometimes past the same street corners twice, Zuko lost track of where they were. But, he put his faith in Black Clock, who seemed to know the city like the back of his hand.

As they kept running, hunted by the pirates, Zuko's eyes flashed along the countless rickety houses. Judging by the angry sounds behind them, he could tell that they were closing in. To the sound of their boots splashing through the muddy streets, lights were ignited behind some of the small, grimy windows, while behind other windows the lights were suddenly put out. Suspicious, as everything in the mist covered city was.

There wasn't anything resembling a town square in this city, which seemed to have been built with no apparent plan, but despite Black Clock's evasive maneuvers Zuko noticed that each step took them closer to the northern gates. Behind the ocean of crooked roofs, the majestic pine-trees of the dense forest rose up in their view, black against the dark blue of the midnight sky.

There was no doubt in Zuko's mind that Black Clock would succeed in bringing them safely to the gates. The man was clever underneath his shabby appearance and he had proven himself a fast runner. But, as they quickly neared the northern city entrance, a feeling of doubt stole over him and Zuko glanced back over his shoulder. Gradually, his steps slowed down until he finally came to a stop and let his eyes pass over the dimly lit houses bordering their muddy escape route. He sighed.

Katara was the first to notice that Zuko was no longer running alongside her. She spun around while she tugged Black Clock's sleeve and spotted Zuko standing in the middle of the road with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Black Clock!" She called on a low voice, not taking her eyes from Zuko as she slowly let down her hood and looked at her traveling companion searchingly.

Black Clock had heard Katara's call just before he would have been sprinting forward to open the gates that they'd almost reached. So, he halted abruptly and turned around in alarm, noticing that both the Fire Lord and the Water Princess had stopped following him. Instead, he spotted the young Fire Lord standing still in the dusky street leading toward the gates. His panicked gaze also registered that the Water Princess started to approach her traveling companion in a careful way and he knew that this meant trouble. He groaned inwardly.

Zuko watched as both Katara and Black Clock came back for him and for a moment his resolve wavered when he saw their worried gazes. He raised his gaze to the silent woods towering over the pirate's city. They were so close… Then he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

"Black Clock, I would like to thank you for bringing us this far…" The firebender started, but the thief interrupted him.

"You're staying," he established. It wasn't a question. "You want to let yourself get caught."

To this Zuko simply nodded and a feeling of regret tugged at his heart when he heard Katara gasp in dismay.

Black Clock took a step closer. "You do realize that you could endanger your entire mission, don't you?" His voice sounded a little agitated and he gave him a penetrating look. "What about your duty to the White Lotus?"

"I can't forsake the duty I have to my nation either," Zuko replied calmly, if not a little regretfully. "These pirates, they murder and rob and they cause fear and disturbance of trade. They are a danger to the people and a danger to peace. The measures we've taken have not been able to stop them. But, now I'm here and I'm able to do something from the inside out. This is an opportunity I can't pass over."

Black Clock heaved his arms and cast a glance at the dark woods before he returned his look to the determined Fire Lord. "This is madness! There's a reason they are following us right now and it's not that they hate the Fire Nation hunting them. They want to abduct you!"

"I know," Zuko replied, unmoved, not even slightly impressed. "It should give me some leverage. All the time the navy has been hunting the pirates, they have never been able to get to the bottom of the organizational structure of this city and break through their defenses. I expect them to bring me before their leader."

"But what of the Fire Nation?" The panic was clear now in Black Clock's shrill voice as he pulled his hair in frustration. "What if word about your abduction reaches the Palace? It would destabilize the Fire Nation, not to mention the danger you're putting the Order of the White Lotus in. The survival of the Order depends solely on you two!"

"I'm aware of that." It was hardly an explanation but Zuko merely closed his eyes as the noise of the pirates inevitably drew nearer. Then he looked the thief straight in the eye and involuntarily the older man flinched when he suddenly realized he had just yelled at his Fire Lord.

But to Black Clock's surprise Zuko didn't call him to order. Instead, he said on a businesslike tone, "Black Clock, I'm not planning on making you stay behind with me. I want to ask you to make contact with the Fire Navy base in the Earth Kingdom and bring word of my capture to the leader of the base, Commander Jee. Tell him that he has to prevent any ship from leaving for the Fire Nation. He must ready himself for battle."

Zuko's gaze registered the panic on the thief's worn features and he smiled shortly, before he took his gold ring from the place near his heart where it had been hidden. "I know it's been long since you had any bond with the Fire Nation, but I hope you will want to help your Fire Lord."

Black Clock trembled when the younger man dropped the token of his majesty in the thief's dingy hand. The beautifully crafted inscription of the dragon and the flame shimmered when he turned the jewel around. He was holding the signet ring of the Fire Lord.

He looked up speechlessly at the Fire Lord, who merely awaited his response, his features showing only the slightest tension. At this moment, Black Clock wanted nothing more than to lead the Grandmaster's nephew and his companion out of this wretched city and put them on the path to the Spirit Princess, but he realized that the Fire Lord had made up his mind. Though it went against all of his instincts to run, perhaps he had to acknowledge that the Fire Lord, because of who he was, didn't have the choice of simply running away.

A smile of approval appeared on Zuko's chiseled features when the thief determinedly closed his fist around the ring and said, "I will, Your Majesty. Putting an end to the threat of pirates on the high seas is in the interest of the Order of the White Lotus, too."

Zuko bowed his head in gratitude, then reached inside his shirt for the lotus clasps and opened the piece of cloth folded around the precious metal. A soft shimmer reached Black Clock's eyes as he looked down on the clasps in Zuko's outstretched hand.

"I want to ask you to take care of these as well. They cannot fall in the hands of the pirates."

"The gold and silver lotus," Black Clock whispered in shock. "I… I want to thank Your Majesty for the trust he puts in this pitiful thief." With shaking hands he put away the clasps.

Zuko gave a small smile. "I am not putting my trust in a thief, Black Clock, but in a member of the Order of the White Lotus to whom I would even entrust with that which is most precious to me."

When he cast a look past Black Clock, the thief followed his silent gaze.

"If you're ready, Black Clock, I want you to take the Princess…"

Up until now, Katara had been listening silently as several feelings struggled to take the upper hand inside her. She understood the reasons Zuko might have to stay behind, but she also felt the responsibility they had to the Order of the White Lotus. Black Clock had not let them down, she could see the northern gates before them and the woods behind the fence while the voices of their pursuers grew louder and louder. They were closing in…

But, then she registered Zuko's quiet voice, asking Black Clock to take her away… A surge of anger rushed through her and her head snapped up. Her furious gaze focused on her traveling companion.

"What? Take me where? I'm staying with you!"

"Katara…" Zuko warned her, "it's too dangerous!" His eyes pleaded with her, but Katara's eyes shot fire.

"Yes, it will be, if I don't stay with you!" She fumed. "Or have you forgotten that this city actually lies next to a sea and I'm a waterbender? Don't you dare think about sending me away without you!"

A storm of emotions passed over Zuko's face as he looked down at the furious waterbender. He had wanted to do this by himself. This was Fire Nation business and he had no right to put Katara in danger for this, nor did he wish for it on a more personal level.

But, he also knew that she was right. She was one of the most powerful waterbenders in the world and together they were undefeatable. She was, in the end, his greatest chance of surviving his own plan.

Involuntarily, he thought back of the time when they had worked together to fight the rock Fire Nation soldiers Toph had let them practice with. Together, they had succeeded in defeating them. The memory left a flicker of hope burning inside of him.

"Are you sure…" he queried weakly, his eyes still begging her to step back, but he knew he was already defeated.

Something in his desperate tone of voice made Katara's features soften and her lips curled in a warm smile. "Of course… I would never leave you."

The quietly spoken words almost dispersed into the wind unnoticed, but Zuko had heard what almost sounded like a confession. It was reminiscent of the words he'd spoken only hours ago, and his eyes widened. A sudden flash of heat surged through his body. Could she mean…?

"They're coming."

The tense voice of Black Clock jolted them back into reality and with whirling cloaks the firebender and the waterbender spun around. They slid into combat stances.

Zuko cast a sideways look at their guide. "Black Clock, you have to leave now. Head for the bay up north. The Eastern Fleet is based there. I want to thank you for all you have done for us and…"

"Wait," Black Clock interrupted him hastily. "There's something you need to know before I… The Spirit Princess… She headed for Taku."

The two travelers stilled as the information slowly sunk in. Because of Zuko's decision to stay behind, they had momentarily forgotten about the reason why they had come to this town in the first place – to find the Spirit Princess. The words of the thief suddenly reminded them of their initial objective and a feeling of shame momentarily went through the travelers as they looked at each other. Black Clock was right. They were letting down the Order of the White Lotus.

"How do you know for sure?" Katara asked in a high-pitched voice. Not for the first time, she got a sneaking feeling that the thief knew so much more than he let out.

Black Clock's gaze skittishly flashed towards the entrance of the narrow street and he took a few steps backwards, readying himself to run away. "One of her vassals told me, before I passed out from drinking that night… He said, 'Remember Taku! You may forget about everything else, but don't forget about Taku!'"

As the travelers stared at him, open-mouthed, his hand absent-mindedly went to the place between his neck and his shoulder. As though he still felt the iron grip with which the strong protector of the princess had hauled him up and forced him to look into a pair of fiery, almond eyes, so similar to those of the Fire Lord.

"Taku," Katara finally whispered in surprise, when a sudden shout was heard from around the corner.

Immediately, Zuko and Katara returned their attention to where the noise of the pirates in pursuit of them was increasing rapidly.

As he kept his eyes fixed on the street entrance, Zuko motioned to Black Clock with a forceful, waving gesture of command to leave.

When the older man hesitated, Zuko told him in a peremptory tone, "We will remember Taku… Now go!"

That brought life back to the thief and, to Zuko's relief, he turned on his heels and ran away. When the firebender cast a glance over his shoulder, Black Clock had already disappeared into the darkness.

"I'm beginning to suspect my uncle wanted me to meet with him back then when he allowed me go into town with him," Zuko grumbled grimly as he secured his stance. "And here I was wondering for years why he had complied with an obnoxious boy's request."

"The strategies of the Dragon of the West," Katara acknowledged quietly, then narrowed her eyes. "Here they come."

The first pirate who appeared round the corner, was swept off his feet by a gigantic tentacle of water, which grabbed and threw him screaming into his companions who had come into view as well.

The spectacular move earned Katara an approving smile from Zuko. "Nice one."

"Minimum effort, maximum result," she said sweetly.

Zuko laughed genuinely at her smug expression as he drew his Dao swords. "Always admired that waterbender's philosophy."

He watched in contentment as another unfortunate pirate landed in between the confused group that now hesitated at the street intersection, afraid to fall into the grasp of the deadly water whip. But, right when Zuko began to worry that they would give up on chasing them already, the group suddenly tumbled into the small crossroads in an unexpected movement forward. Zuko lifted an eyebrow.

"Why are you stalling, morons, you will lose them!"

A furious pirate had bumped into the group and angrily fought his way to the front. When his eyes fell on the travelers, an evil grin appeared on his face. It was the barker.

"Well, well, what do we have here? If it isn't the people I've been looking for… The Water Princess and the Fire Lord… Ladies first, isn't it so? Apparently you two have made up with each other? Good, I love me a happy ending."

His jab was only met with watchful glances, while the dark clad travelers remained unmoved by his attempt at unsettling them. The barker narrowed his eyes and took a step closer. "Have you given up on running? Very sensible of you… You caused quite a commotion in the barroom this evening."

This seemed to remind him of something and he cast a suspicious gaze behind the travelers. "Your friend isn't with you?"

He didn't await the answer. With an angry movement he barked over his shoulder, "Find him, he can't be far!"

A few pirates broke away from the group and passed Zuko and Katara, who let them go. They had faith in Black Clock's qualities as a runner.

The barker spit on the ground and, with a calculating expression in his eyes, he began to circle around the travelers, like a predator prowling for his prey. His greasy hair gleamed slickly in the cold light of the full moon that had appeared from behind the clouds and cast spooky shadows over the lines in his face.

Katara looked up to the pale moon, a pearl shining softly in a curtain of black velvet, littered with stars glistening like diamonds. It had stopped raining. A tremble went through her body as she felt the power surge rushing through her veins. She took in a deep breath and, as her expression hardened, she rested her cold gaze on the rabble in front of her. She knew she could take them. Each and every one of them. Grab them, smash them against the walls, bend and eventually break their will, until they begged for mercy…

For a moment, Katara closed her eyes to calm her raging instincts. Then she sensed a slight movement next to her. Zuko. He had felt her reaction and was trying to draw her attention.

"Katara, we have to let ourselves get caught," his husky voice softly reminded her, "please, try not to completely destroy them, though I know it will be difficult."

As he spoke, his eyes stayed fixed on the barker, who slowly approached them. "We don't want to fix their attention on our prowess as benders, either. Best to let them think they can still take us."

He then cast a glance at his companion and Katara was met with an unexpected giddy sparkle in his golden eyes as the corner of his mouth twitched a little. "But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun first…"

At that moment, a whirlwind of fire suddenly engulfed Zuko, spinning around him as he unsheathed his Dao swords. Following him, Katara drew back her water whips and formed an octopus of angrily moving water around her. The pirates backed away, terrified by the visions of raging fire and water before them. Only the threats the barker shouted at them kept them from running. Katara smiled.

The fight was short but intense. While Zuko leapt forward to fight off the barker and everyone approaching Katara, the waterbender kept her distance and sent violent waves of water past Zuko's reach, clearing the way for him to move. Katara carefully refrained from using other techniques, but still the pirates were no match for them. A few of them appeared to be earthbenders who tried to unsettle the ground underneath Zuko and Katara's feet, but in a split second they were isolated by fire, picked up by water and smashed against the wall.

The one firebender in the group was treated equally.

As her water whips continued to pick up and throw away pirates who tried to attack her, Katara shut out the calling of the water that hid in the mud, glistened on the roofs and dripped from the walls around her. Something besides Zuko's warning told her that it was important to hide her ability to retract water from her surroundings, like the power to control the blood inside the body of the crazed pirate lunging at her.

Katara merely made an elegant flick with her wrist and a beautiful but violent string of water swept up the unfortunate man. The next moment he found himself thrown several yards away, lying in the mud. With a groan he lost conscience.

Having found a new favorite game, Katara kept sweeping up the pirates coming for her, until her eye fell on Zuko defending himself.

Something gleamed in between the flames engulfing him that drew her attention and, distracted, she narrowed her eyes. Then her mouth fell open. Only minutes ago, he had told her not to attract too much attention to their abilities, but here he was wielding both his swords and his element at the same time. She hadn't even known that such a thing was possible.

Awed by the sight, Katara followed his movements as he combined fiery blasts of fire with strong and swift movements of steel, gleaming blood red in the light of the fire. Flames glided along the smooth metal of the blades, heating them up to an unbearable temperature as they sang through the air, fighting off pirates, cutting and burning. Katara's concentration started to slip as she watched Zuko using both his firebending and sword fighting at the same time. Short, powerful firebending stances alternated with the elegant, swift swings of the Dao swords, adding blinding streaks of reflected light to the haunting flickering of the golden flames. It was beautiful. He was beautiful.

Awestruck, Katara followed her companion's fight and failed to notice that one of the pirates that she had washed into a corner had scrambled up and came for her again, a mean glint in his eyes.

"Katara!"

Startled, she snapped out of her daze and from the corner of her eye, she saw the pirate leap for her. Reflexively, she slid into a stance.

But it was too late.

She had just used her water to wash away another pirate and it would take too much time to summon it back. Katara could only numbly watch as Zuko looked over his shoulder, a horrified expression in his eyes.

Katara couldn't quite pinpoint what happened in the following moments. Her eyes widened in utter astonishment, when Zuko forced back one pirate with a few fierce movements and suddenly two enormous fire whips seemed shoot from his Dao swords, angrily licking the darkening sky. He spun around and sent one of the whips at the pirate attacking Katara. The look in Zuko's eyes, intensified by the flickering flames, was murderous. Katara barely registered when the pirate gave a blood-curdling scream as the fire whip curled itself around him, very nearly burning him until it changed into a fiery barricade that made him tumble into the heap of other pirates.

"What was that…?" Katara whispered as her disbelieving gaze followed the fire whips that seemed to disappear into Zuko's Dao swords. Her hands automatically mirrored his movements to summon back her bending water until it floated next to her in a glistening ribbon.

"Something I made up during training," Zuko said lightly, though he avoided her gaze. "It allows me to fight at either short or long distances."

"I've seen you using fire whips before, but never like that," Katara said, still in awe, as she cast a glance at the two Dao swords in his hands.

Zuko nodded and smiled a little. He was clearly relieved that Katara was all right. "Waterbending moves tend to fit in very well with my sword fighting."

He finally raised his eyes and Katara's heart made little leap when she saw his intense gaze.

"It's amazing… but… not very inconspicuous." Her voice sounded raspy when she reminded him of their initial goal.

Zuko sighed in regret, acknowledging the truth in words and he looked around.

"I think it's time we let them break through our defenses, before they give up on catching us altogether."

He eyed the miserable group of exhaustedly regrouping pirates. They were soaked and scorched.

The scarce lights that had been lit behind the windows when the fight had begun had now all but disappeared and Katara could almost feel the angry, frightened gazes hiding in the shadows of the rickety walls. She caught Zuko's gaze and nodded.

Patiently, they waited for the pirates to scramble up and regain their posture. A frightened expression had appeared in the men's eyes at the sight of the two benders who watched them from their spot in the middle of the road, an oddly serene gaze in their eyes.

"Magic," someone whispered in fear.

"Witches," another one mumbled.

"Order of the White Lotus." A third voice said darkly and the other pirates jerked up their heads. The voice belonged to the one firebender among them.

The barker stood up and panted as he wiped off his bleeding lip to his dirty sleeve.

"He's right," he told them. "Their bending is influenced by other bending styles."

A smirk appeared on his features when he looked at the young Fire Lord who had started to breathe heavily in the cold air. The Water Princess seemed out of breath, too.

"And a nice piece of firebending it was," he muttered under his breath. He had never seen a bender who wielded both his bending and a conventional weapon like these Dao swords at the same time. Spectacular. That spoiled little prince had learned quite a few tricks since their previous encounter, but now he unexpectedly had given up on fighting, after he had saved his little princess.

The barker took a step forward, his suspicions rising when the travelers did little to prevent him from coming nearer. But, they seemed weary and he noticed the mud clinging to the heavy cloth of their cloaks, torn and cut in a few places. They had already come a long way.

The barker narrowed his eyes and grinned as he saw his chance. "Get them!"

* * *

Cursing the shackles around his wrists, Zuko cast a sideways glance at Katara, who stumbled forth beside him, her delicate hands, like his, caught in chains. Her head hung, but when she felt his gaze on her, she carefully looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes. Only Zuko saw the vague smile that momentarily played around her lips.

The barker had completely fallen for their act of exhaustion and now the group was headed for the harbor, bringing in their prize.

At one point, Katara noticed that the muddy streets gave way to decrepit wharfs bordering the dirty, smelly water. Houses on poles were woven through the wharfs in a chaotic way, but they didn't enter one of the hovels.

Instead, they were brought to a wharf away from the rest, where a large, sinister ship rested in the black water.

Katara's eyes flashed towards Zuko and in his gaze she saw he'd recognized the pirate ship, too.

The barker pushed them onto the gang-plank leading to the ship, and an evil grin defaced his dirty features. "The leader of Senlin Harbor would love to meet you."

He didn't notice when the corners of Zuko's lips curled up in brief smile.

After entering the ship, the pirates and their prisoners proceeded through a large space full of valuables euphemistically referred to as merchandise by the barker. Zuko noticed when Katara's gaze wandered across the low room and rested on the shelf where she'd found the waterbending scroll. The barker grinned.

"His Majesty's uncle had at least the decency to pay for the monkey statue he took," he said and Zuko narrowed his eyes in anger. He silently cursed his uncle for encouraging these pirates in their criminal activities. Especially, since it meant buying the hideous statue of a grinning monkey he now kept in his home in Ba Sing Se. Uncle Iroh really lacked in the most basic principles of good taste.

* * *

A few moments later they finally arrived at the Captain's Cabin. A lot of smugglers and pirates had assembled in the excessively decorated, but otherwise decrepit, room and countless eyes followed the Fire Lord and Water Princess being brought in.

In the back of the chamber, a man was seated on silk cushions resting on a raised platform. He was dressed in more refined clothes than the rabble surrounding him, though the red color of his coat was inconsistent with the color of his eyes, which betrayed his Earth Kingdom origin. A cocked hat and a feathered parrot-lizard sitting on his shoulder completed his appearance.

The Pirate Captain.

Zuko frowned angrily when the barker pushed him and Katara to the front, but his face was unemotional when he straightened up.

The Pirate Captain eyed them triumphantly and a small smile eventually broadened his bloodless lips. "What high guests have you brought me? A Fire Lord…" his gaze flashed to Katara, who looked back defiantly, "and a Water Princess. Welcome, honored guests. We meet again."

He smiled sweetly and then he beckoned a few pirates with a small jerk of his head. "Search them."

Two pirates stepped forward and Katara and Zuko's chains disappeared.

Then Zuko's Dao swords were taken from him, after which, a pair of hands restlessly wandered over his arms, his chest, down his stomach to his legs. The ivory dagger was pulled out of his pocket and given to the Captain, who picked it up and eyed it appreciatively.

"Made in the Earth Kingdom…" He looked up and smiled at the Fire Lord, when reading one of both inscriptions out loud. This rather prozaic inscription clearly interested him more than the one on the other side of the knife. He was a merchant after all.

"A keepsake, hmm? This knife isn't made for killing ones enemies," the pirate said as he let his fingers run over the smooth ivory.

'You have no idea,' Zuko thought sarcastically when the pirate brought the knife closer to his face to examine the inscription, before he put the knife in his pocket with a satisfied smile.

Zuko clenched his fists, but otherwise contained his anger in a commendable display of self-control. At that moment, he heard a soft gasp of dismay next to him. With a jerk of his head he looked to the side and now his features did show pure fury when he noticed the hungry hands lingering on Katara's slender body as she too was being searched. Furiously, Zuko made a movement to fly at the pirate's throat, but the Captain was quicker.

"Enough!" He shouted and he gave an off-handed sign. The barker stepped forward and drew his sword. The body was removed silently.

The Captain looked around with a sharp expression in his eyes. "Let this be a warning for everyone! The Water Princess is not to be touched."

For safety's sake, the pirate who had searched Zuko stepped back as well as he swallowed audibly, when a hoarse, contorted voice suddenly yelled from somewhere in the room, "The arms, check the Fire Lord's arms."

A mumbling went through the crowd and some of the men started to look around for where the voice came from, while others fixed their gazes on Zuko, whose stomach had dropped at the suggestion. Reflexively, he made a movement to slide into stance, when a sharp blade pressed into his back.

"That wouldn't be wise, Your Majesty," the barker whispered in a threatening voice.

Katara watched in shock as the pirate pulled out Zuko's arms and yanked back his sleeves. An impassive expression passed over his features in which only his eyes glistened furiously. The Pirate Captain started to laugh with malicious delight.

The mysterious, hoarse voice laughed as well. "I thought so…"

Katara lowered her gaze to see Zuko's outstretched arms, his clenched fists pointing at the floor. The strong muscles strained underneath his pale skin and then she noticed it. Wrapped around his right wrist was her necklace, the pendant softly dangling from the velvet ribbon, which was attached with loving care.

"Not again," the Captain groaned in theatrical mockery and the barker joined him in laughter, before the Captain bowed forward. "Apparently, the Fire Lord has a knack for collecting keepsakes. Did the little princess know you'd taken her necklace from her… again?" He let out a sneering laugh. "You should be more careful with your jewelry, Your Highness. You know what they say about the heart and sleeves, right?"

Katara swallowed as her heart made a painful leap in her chest. After she had given Zuko her necklace for safekeeping, she had never wondered where he had put it, as she presumed the necklace rested on his chest with the lotus clasps. The thought of her necklace resting near his heart had comforted and excited her at the same time. But, she hadn't expected him to keep her necklace in the same place where he'd kept it before.

Around his wrist.

A sentimental, somewhat silly act that completely caught her off guard. Katara knew very well what they said about sleeves and the heart.

She chanced a sideways glance at her companion, but he didn't look back. Instead, he stared at the Pirate Captain while the barker yanked the necklace from his wrist, the sharp edges of the velvet ribbon cutting his skin. His cheek twitched as the blood silently dripped along his still curled fist and fell on the dirty wooden floor. Zuko seemed to have become paralyzed as the gentle feeling of the Water Tribe necklace resting around his wrist was replaced by a stinging pain.

His controlled anger eventually silenced the pirates and smugglers surrounding the captives and a tense atmosphere descended on the Captain's cabin.

The Pirate Captain stopped laughing and his hand went to his Jian sword as he put the necklace in the same pocket where Zuko's dagger already rested. Then he cast Zuko a challenging look, to which the young firebender, after a moment, had to bow his head. The Captain smiled smugly, tasting sweet victory.

"You two… I want answers. I know you're members of the Order of the White Lotus, so we can skip the part where you're going to deny it. The Order is helping the Fire Navy and the Earth Kingdom Governor with their fight against us."

He stood up and started to pace around the raised platform, though his sharp gaze never averted from Zuko while the young man rolled down his sleeves. The violent movements hid the bleeding cut in his wrist from view.

Knowing the pirate's eyes fixed on him, Zuko kept his features in check as his thoughts processed this surprising piece of information. The Order had stepped into this matter? Since when? And why? The pirate's piercing, searching gaze told him that apparently, the Order had succeeded in causing the pirates a lot of trouble. Involuntarily, his lips curled in a small smile. This could get interesting.

The Pirate Captain saw Zuko's reaction and, after all that had happened, he seemed to consider this an act of defiance. He pointed at two pirates near the platform, among whom was the barker.

"Take them away," he snapped. "Tomorrow we will send word to the Fire Nation about your abduction, Your Majesty, and we will see if you still will be smiling then."

* * *

Secretly, Katara felt relieved when they were taken away from the crowded cabin and led to what appeared to be the lowest level inside the ship. Eventually, the barker opened a low door and pushed the prisoners into a small, dark cell with no windows.

"Enjoy your time here," the barker laughed. "I think this place is a perfect fit for royalty like yourselves!"

When the door fell shut, Zuko rushed toward it and pounded on the old wood. "Wait! Is your Captain the leader you spoke of?"

For a moment, it seemed like the barker had already left, but then they heard his muffled voice from behind the door. It sounded scornful. "Of course not."

"At least we now know the Pirate Captain isn't the leader," Katara said thoughtfully when the footsteps of the barker had died away.

Her gaze wandered through the small, dirty space. One mattress filled with hay lay in the corner, but Zuko chose to sit cross-legged against the opposing wooden wall and Katara followed him.

As Zuko rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes all of the anger and adrenaline flowed out of his body, leaving only extreme tiredness. Almost automatically, he put his arm around Katara when she laid her haid on his left shoulder, pulling her close. Suddenly, he felt infinitely glad for her presence in this mess. He didn't want to think about how thing's had been if she hadn't been with him now. Probably worse.

For a moment, they didn't move, listening to the rain pounding against the wood of the ship as they tried to calm their raging thoughts. A lot had happened since they'd entered Senlin Harbor.

Zuko started when he felt his wrist suddenly being picked up by a small, gentle hand.

"They took my water pouch but that shouldn't be a problem. The wood of this ship is soaked." Katara softly said as she lifted her head from his shoulder.

Immediately, he pulled his hand out of hers. "No, don't heal it."

In the dim light that penetrated the cell from the cracks in the wall, he could see she was hurt. "But…"

"They will notice," he explained himself in a softer tone as he regretfully looked down at his painfully stinging wrist. "It will be too conspicuous."

"Then at least let me clean it," she sighed and tentatively he stretched out his hand as he lit a small fire in the other one. The warm light cast a gentle glow on the waterbender's worried features when she carefully cupped his hurt wrist in her hand.

Katara kept her word. With a flick of her wrist, she retracted a small stream of water from the wooden wall behind them, purified it and gently she washed away the sticky blood clinging to Zuko's skin. He shivered when the cold water made contact with the cut, soothing the pain.

His eyes followed Katara's careful movements as she trailed her fingertips along the delicate skin of his wrist and then discarded the sullied water. What remained was a clean wound, unhealed like she had promised. But, while the cut was still there, the pain was gone. Not for the first time, Zuko marveled at what the waterbender was able to do with the pure element she commanded.

The water fell down on the grimy floor with a soft splash and Zuko expected Katara to let go of his hand now, but to his surprise she didn't draw back. Instead, her fingers returned to trail the sensitive skin of his wrist. He stilled completely at her hesitant caress.

"You wore my necklace around your wrist," she whispered. Her index finger came to rest against the paler skin of his wrist. For a moment, it resembled a living version of her velvet necklace, which he had lost to the pirates.

The firebender lowered his gaze and swallowed, not able to bear the confused look in her eyes. He felt horribly guilty. Why did he have to get carried away by the strong feeling of melancholy that had washed over him when she'd entrusted him with her necklace, this time handing it over willingly? Why did he have to wake up during that last night in the woods and take the necklace out of its place with the other valuables under his shirt and fasten it around his wrist? If only he hadn't done that, the necklace would have been safe with Black Clock, heading for the Eastern Fleet with him. 'Even a real thief is more trustworthy than I am,' he thought dejectedly.

"I… I'm sorry," he finally apologized. "I should have given your necklace to Black Clock when I had the chance."

To his surprise, Katara shook her head. "We'll get it back, together with your dagger. What I want to know is… why?"

Her tense gaze searched his face in an attempt to read the answer underneath his ashamed expression.

"To keep it safe," he replied softly, "like I had done before."

A shiver ran down Katara's spine and she pictured his 16-year old self, sitting crossed-legged in his steel-clad cabin, while the soft velvet slid through his fingers as he familiarized himself with every line in the shimmering stone.

"You missed my necklace when Aang had taken it from you." It wasn't a question and Zuko seemed to flinch under her knowing establishment.

"Yes, it felt like he had stolen it from me," he admitted and he looked down on his wrist. The vague traces of blood left on the palm of his hand seemed almost black in the light of the fire. His dejected expression was underlined by the mud smeared on his face.

Silently, Katara studied him, looking so very contrite and suddenly, she felt an inexplicable tenderness settle in her heart. Her features softened and something inside her compelled her to reach out and tug a strand of hair, caked with mud as well, behind his ear. His eyes, the perfect one and the marred one, glistened when he looked up at the unexpected gesture.

The look in them took her breath away.

It wasn't the first time she'd seen this look from him when she'd caught him looking at her in an unguarded moment. It was gentle and with a hint of tenderness and every time her breath had hitched at the expectation of what she felt had remained veiled behind a certain wariness but was there nonetheless. But now, the look in his eyes went straight to her heart. What she saw was an infinite devotion that awoke a longing to answer him. A longing she had increasingly become afraid of.

Katara swallowed. "I was very glad to have my necklace back. Aang said…" The words escaped her mouth before she knew it and she clapped her mouth shut.

His golden eyes were understanding but also a bit sad. A small smile appeared on his lips. "Of course you were."

The fire snapped out when, in a movement that mirrored hers, he lifted his hand to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, while he asked softly, "What did Aang say?"

"Aang said…" Katara whispered and then stopped, momentarily distracted by the feeling of his hand brushing along her skin as his fingers played with the strands of hair behind her ear, "… he said that you had asked him to be sure to get my necklace to me."

Zuko raised his one eyebrow in mock irony. "He did?"

He saw Katara nod but her serious gaze told him there was more to the story. Her eyes wandered over his features searchingly and Zuko would have given anything to know what was going on right now inside of her that made her gaze grow in intensity as she leaned forward. Unconsciously, he drew in a sharp breath. She was close now, very close, captivating him with her brilliant, blue eyes and his heart started to race in his chest.

"I don't think he ever did as I asked," Katara then mumbled as her gaze lowered to his lips and lingered there. Her whisper seemed directed more to herself than to Zuko, who shivered at the sight of her eyelashes fluttering against her cheekbones. The thought that this mesmerizing side of her surfacing somehow had to do with him, made his breath hitch in his throat.

"Did what?" Zuko whispered back softly. The irony had vanished completely from his hoarse voice as he drank in every aspect of Katara's delicate features. He silently begged Agni that she wouldn't notice the racing of his heart as he tried to remain motionless to not break the spell. She was so close that he could almost feel the touch of her lips against his.

He drew in a quiet breath when Katara looked up again, her glistening eyes pools of darkness. She bit her lip and said, "This…"

Then Zuko's mind went blank when she gently placed her lips on his, sealing his mouth in a kiss that was light but full of longing. She was _kissing_ him. She was actually kissing _him_, was all that went through Zuko as he involuntarily closed his eyes to the tingling sensation. Feeling her soft lips lightly pressed against his sent waves of pure bliss through him and he had to struggle not to part his own to her hesitant caress. Much too soon, the wonderful sensation disappeared and regretfully Zuko looked up and straight into Katara's eyes.

Her face was still very close to his as she had retreated only slightly. She seemed to study him, searching for his reaction, her lips slightly parted while her darkened eyes wandered across his features. When he failed to respond, stupefied by the lingering sensation of her kiss, insecurity crept into her gaze and she started to back away.

"I…" she said finally, and Zuko, who was still relishing in the memory of her kiss suddenly noticed the awkwardness that now settled into her brilliantly blue eyes, making her draw back.

"No," he mumbled, not accepting the change of atmosphere. On impulse, he raised his hand to cradle the back of her head and pulled her toward him.

And as he closed the last distance between them, he gave in to the wistful feeling that had been begging him to kiss her back from the moment she'd broken the kiss. His breathing hitched when his lips met hers in a feathery caress that made him immediately wish for more.

For a moment, Katara grew perfectly still, but then a jolt of electricity went through Zuko's body when she pressed her lips against his in response and slightly parted them to his almost searching caress. A small sigh resembling a groan escaped him and when she placed her hands behind his head and entangled her slender fingers with his silky strands, he deepened the kiss.

Katara couldn't grasp the overwhelming sensation that coursed through her at feeling Zuko's lips move against hers. The suppressed sound that escaped him when she hesitantly parted her lips made a shiver run down her spine. She could barely hold back a sigh of her own when one of his hands cupped her cheek and the other one buried itself in her hair. In response, Katara lifted her other hand and placed it on Zuko's chest, feeling his heart thunder underneath the well-defined muscles. It made her gasp against his mouth and as her small fist clenched his shirt, her reaction elicited another blissful sigh from him. Then her mind went blank when his tongue started to trail along her bottom lip and as the blood pounded in her ears, she responded to the tingling sensation of his warm mouth welcoming her.

* * *

A few miles north, a dirty man with clever eyes lay on his stomach on the cliff. He was holding out his hand in which two lotus clasps shimmered in the light of the almost setting moon, when a sudden brilliant, blinding light passed over the silver and gold of the clasps.

Startled, he jumped up and hastily he covered the lotuses with the rough-linen cloth again. Then his gaze averted to the majestic fleet of steel-clad ships beneath him and he drew in a nervous breath.

It was time.

* * *

**A/N**: _They kissed... *sigh*. Finally. I hope you all liked this scene. It won't be the last time they kiss. Of course when Katara said she didn't think Aang had done as she asked, she meant giving Zuko a kiss for her..._ _But what about their imprisonment? And if the Pirate Captain isn't the leader of Senlin Harbor, who is? And will they be able to render harmless the city for the future, before the pirate's bring word of Zuko's abduction to the Fire Nation?_

_This week's chapter title is actually a prompt from the Irko-week at dA, because there is momentary pause in new prompts for Zutara. Next week I'll take a prompt from the Ursroh-week. Since there are no Zutara-prompts I also promise to insert a Taang intermezzo again._

_I would like to thank all of you who have reviewed the previous chapter(s). I am very flattered with the comparison of my story to Stormbenders and that my story inspires some of you with your own stories. I__'m also very glad you all liked Black Clock, I have fun writing him. _

_And Sylvanharlequin, thanks for your surprising review in Dutch, I'm so glad with the praise about the story's structure and writing. To the Black Kitty I would like to say, thanks for your faithful reviewing in Flemish. _

_Also, ASP AUS gave kudoes to whoever does my proof-reading. So, these go to Lieta, my wonderful beta!_


	26. Traitor

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 26: Traitor**

Music: Jeremy Soule, One They Fear (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

* * *

_Morning. Time to stretch out a little. Careful for the polished wooden floor underneath those tatami mats. Oops… and careful for those countless side tables, too. Ow. _

_Still dark outside. Nothing like the last place we went. All is still quiet._

_Never understood those stairs. Aren't they only slippery and fatiguing? Must wake them still._

_Left. No light. _

_Right. No light. _

_Ah, the second door to the left, in there I must go. Careful with this floor, too. Mustn't wake the old man. _

_Oh!_

* * *

"Good morning, Momo." Iroh bent over to pick up the surprised lemur. The animal chattered softly the elderly man, who had so unexpectedly turned up on his master's doorstep, lifted him from the ground.

Iroh sat the little creature on his shoulder, feeling the soft tail curl around his neck as he did so and crawled the lemur behind his large ears. "Did you come to wake them?"

He cast a glance into the room where Aang and Toph were still vast asleep and sighed.

It had been a week since Toph had offered to stay with Aang during the night and his nightmares had subsided considerably, but Iroh knew this sleeping arrangement was only postponing the moment when Aang had to face his demons. And this moment would surely come.

It was a sign, a warning for the Grandmaster not to let his attention wane, that the Order of the White Lotus was still miles away from its salvation. Iroh looked upon the quickly approaching winter with sorrow but also knew that the only thing he could do was to create the best conditions for the young people to fulfill their tasks. For the rest, he had to keep faith in the weavings of the spirits even he could not entirely fathom.

Yesterday had brought good news, though. Very good news. To be honest, Iroh hadn't been sure that the Water Tribe Representative in the Black Lotus Council would even be bothered with debriefing his Grandmaster about Zuko and Katara's visit to the South Pole. Pakku had already been very displeased, to put it mildly, with Iroh sending his precious granddaughter on a perilous journey with Zuko. And a harbor having been frozen over for the winter would not help, either. But, here the scroll had been, resting next to his plate.

Iroh couldn't help his heart skipping a beat when he had picked it up. What if Zuko had done something to upset Katara's grandfather and the old waterbender in turn had gone against his Grandmaster's wishes? The boy most of the time meant well, but he was clumsy. And Pakku would surely go look for any sign that would confirm his image of the young Fire Lord.

Iroh's eye then had caught the stamp that was placed beside Pakku's seal. A smile softened his folded features when he put on his glasses and broke the seal. Apparently, the letter had traveled via Kyoshi Island. Love can melt any frozen harbor, he had thought sentimentally as he recalled Prince Sokka's fiancée, the Kyoshi Warrior Suki.

In his typical curt style, Pakku had described the course of events that had occurred during Zuko and Katara's stay at the Palace. An enumeration that started with the dry announcement that the Grandmaster's nephew had finally told Katara about the troubled past that was etched in his features forever.

The message, despite being gruff, made a deep impression on Iroh and when he lowered the letter he closed his eyes in a fashion that showed utter relief.

Finally… _finally_ the last barrier between his nephew and the Water Princess had been removed. This was very big news, indeed. Understanding comes with knowledge and understanding between Iroh's apprentices was the key to the salvation of the Order.

It wasn't only for the sake of his Order, though, that Iroh now wiped away some moist forming in the corner of his eye as his gaze rested on the small picture of Zuko standing on his desk. He loved the boy as his own child and Iroh felt infinitely grateful that Zuko had finally been able to open up to somebody – no, not somebody, to _her_ and she in turn had not rejected him. The old general was glad that he had seen it well when he had noticed this special bond between his nephew and the waterbender.

But, the testy, tightly written letter held yet another surprise for him.

Apparently, during the travelers stay on the South Pole Zuko had displayed such dedication to Pakku's granddaughter that he surprisingly had earned some of Master Pakku's scarcely given approval.

Raising his eyebrows, Iroh had wondered what Zuko had said or done to earn the rigid waterbender's approval.

He still remembered the fuming letter Katara's step-grandfather had sent him only a week before the young couple's arrival on the South Pole. Pakku's obvious distrust of Iroh's nephew had actually hit him unpleasantly and Iroh had to remind himself that, like him, Pakku was only protective of his granddaughter. As he reread Pakku's reluctant praise for the young firebender accompanying Katara, Iroh had felt a little proud of his nephew, who unknowingly had put his uncle in the right.

In the steady light of the oil lamp next to him, Iroh had scanned the rest of the letter, when his eye had caught on the characters almost at the end that depicted a name. White Lotus.

Abruptly, he had sat up and as he brought the parchment closer to his face, his clever eyes widened in astonishment. He put his hand before his mouth when he read on. This was impossible, unheard of! His breath caught as he read on and when he finally lowered the letter his head had been spinning.

But, he knew that it had to be true. Pakku - especially Pakku - wouldn't make this up. And it was more than he had ever hoped for.

Iroh didn't notice that his fist curled in a triumphant ball as he reread the last paragraph. When he had sent away Zuko with Katara, he had wanted them to see the White Lotus, so they would learn about the essence of the Order they were trying to save, but this… Suddenly, he had felt very small, humbled by the knowledge that whatever plan he had in this, the spirits carried out a plan of their own design.

Even when the petals were closed, the brilliance of the White Lotus could only be endured by members of the Black Lotus Council who could see the blinding light for what it was: a flower. But, according to Pakku's letter the unexpected had happened – the White Lotus had opened wide to those who knew her secret.

Pakku's letter spoke of a blinding light which had consumed their respective nephew and granddaughter after which the Order was presented with two new members, initiated by the White Lotus herself.

"This is extraordinary," Iroh whispered at the picture of his beloved son that flanked the smaller picture of Zuko on his desk. "The White Lotus hasn't opened herself to non-members of the Order for centuries."

Abruptly, he had stood up and crossed the room to the large bookcase on the other side, pulling from the line of impressive, gold printed backs a small, insignificant book, which he opened on the title page.

For a very long time, he had silently stared at the picture glowing up in the gold light of the oil lamp. A man and a woman, each standing on a mountain, clad in blue and red. Another romance that had been written in the stars. It had kept him up all night, thinking about missed chances and hesitant possibilities.

Iroh's sharp gaze now noticed that Toph started to stir and he knew that she unconsciously felt his presence in the doorway. It was only a matter of seconds that she would become fully awake.

At that moment, though, Aang put his arm around the petite earthbender and pulled her in. Iroh watched in silent surprise as Toph sighed and buried her head in the crook of Aang's neck, tightening her hold on the sinewy airbender. Subconsciously, Aang reacted by softly brushing her forehead with his lips.

Iroh had seen enough. He softly closed the doorframe behind him, knowing that he had been witness to a vulnerable moment that made him almost as glad as he had been with the letter from Pakku of the Water Tribes.

Perhaps now was a good time to read the letter he had been holding in his hand this entire time, the letter which had been brought to him by the messenger-hawk that had woke him up at this early hour.

A letter sent by his nephew.

* * *

Black Clock swallowed with difficulty as he looked down on the one trail leading down to the small beach below the high cliffs. It was rocky, it was slippery and it was steep… very, very steep. He closed his eyes and tried to shut out the sudden spinning of his head and the nausea washing over him.

Why, oh why did these things always had to happen to him? What had he done wrong in his previous life to deserve this kind of trouble? He was exhausted and hungry, hadn't eaten during the night when he was running for his pursuers and, he had to admit, during the entire day before it. That was why he had wanted to steal the princess' bag.

He wiped off his sweaty hands to his shirt and felt the light bulge of the ring resting underneath it. The Fire Lord's ring. The brave young man, who had against all Black Clock's expectations put all of his trust in him, a mere thief, to warn the Fire Navy Eastern Fleet. Black Clock was determined to not let down the Fire Lord.

He took a deep breath and slowly started to crouch down the steep trail, purposely avoiding to look into the depths below him.

Despite it's slight weight, this ring was the heaviest burden he had ever carried.

The bright stars already started to pale in the graying sky, indicating that it would be morning soon, when the Black Clock finally stumbled onto the beach. With a sigh of relief he looked up at the high cliffs he had just survived, but averted his eyes when dizziness threatened to take over again. A bit wobbly, he stood up and swept the sand of his ragged clothing, then turned around.

Looming in the distance was a fleet of what seemed to be at least a dozen of the biggest steamships he had ever seen. It was a silent, forbidding force of black steel that lay only twenty yards from the coastline, blocking the entire entrance to the crescent moon shaped bay. The ships had the typical threatening Fire Nation bows at the front of the ships and countless of red, glowing lights on the conning towers formed a haunting addition to the frightening sight of the black steel-clad crafts.

The thief's heart started to race as his gaze trailed from the intimidating conning towers to the blood red and black flags waving proudly in the chilly morning breeze. The fierce insignia of a sea-eagle within a royal flame ordained the triangular flags. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that once he would be glad to see the menacing sight before him. But, he certainly was when he started to realize that he had made it. That he had managed to shake off the pursuers he knew the pirates had sent after him and that he was now staring at His Majesty's Royal Fire Nation Eastern Fleet.

Black Clock blinked a few times to assure himself that the fleet was actually there and not a hallucination caused by exhaustion. But, when the forbidding force remained in his view, he started to cross the beach toward the calm sea. It seemed black and bottomless in the scarce early morning light. The bay must be very deep for the ships to be this close to the shore and the rocky cliffs formed a natural protection for the fleet Black Clock noticed.

He had trouble grasping that this impressive force belonged to a nineteen-year-old boy.

The thief's feet sank away deeply into the heavy yellow sand as he fixed his gaze on a particularly grim ship, the biggest of them all, carrying a flag in red and gold, that was different from the others.

The flagship.

"Halt!"

Black Clock jumped a little when the loud voice boomed over the beach and harshly broke early morning silence. Somewhere in the distance, an albatross called indignantly.

The bellowed warning was followed by a boost of fire that seared through the cold air and only barely missed the poor thief. He spun around to see two soldiers stepping out of the shadows of a cavern in the precipice.

Two men carrying long spears approached him. They wore slim black uniforms which were hemmed by fiery red stripes. The red eye covers of their black helms were shaped as wings. Guards.

"You have no business here." The tallest of the two Fire Nation soldiers said grimly, when they had reached the thief, spears ready. "Leave!"

"And what business does the Fire Navy have in the Earth Kingdom? Last time I've checked, this is Earth Kingdom territory," Black Clock bit back before he could contain himself. His stomach dropped when the tallest one angrily slid into a combat stance and he squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of the blow.

But, the shorter soldier held back his companion. "Wait, he hasn't done anything, yet."

He turned slightly toward Black Clock, who only saw the light brown eyes glisten through the grim eyeholes.

"What do you want? Let me remind you, this is Fire Nation military territory. You've just trespassed into the Earth Kingdom base of the Fire Navy Eastern Fleet and trespassers will be severely punished… man from Senlin Harbor."

Black Clock flinched as the Fire Nation soldier's sharp mind had almost immediately come to the right conclusion.

He fidgeted with his hands, then said, "I wish to speak with Commander Jee. It's urgent."

The tall soldier scoffed at the insolence of this lowlife asking to see the Commander, but the smaller one ignored him.

"What do you want with Commander Jee?" He asked, his voice wary.

Black Clock now turned towards the shorter soldier completely, hoping for his understanding, but he knew that what he was going to say now would not help his case. The courage sank into his boots as he took in a shaky breath.

"I've come with a message from the Fire Lord. It's meant for Commander Jee solely."

The tall soldier didn't even try to stifle his sneering laughter now as he stepped forward, grabbed Black Clock by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

"Are you trying to fool us? Why would the Fire Lord choose you of all people to be his messenger? You're insulting His Majesty before his soldiers, Earth Kingdom scum!"

With a frightened look in his eyes, Black Clock looked up at the intimidating firebender, his feet dangling helplessly beneath him as he tried to breathe.

"I can prove it!" He wheezed, his head turning red as the man's large fist curled into his already ragged collar. "And I'm Fire Nation, too!"

"Put him down!" The shorter firebender suddenly cut in and pulled Black Clock from the other soldier's grasp. "You're choking him!"

Black Clock fell down on the beach in a helpless heap and coughed violently as he tried to sit up. He cursed his luck that he had to encounter these guards before he could get to Commander Jee, but then realized his own stupidity. Of course, he would have run into those guards first. One does not simply gets to speak with the Commander of the Eastern Fleet, especially when that someone was from Senlin Harbor.

He flinched when he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and the shorter soldier looked at him with piercing eyes. "It's very hard for us to believe the Fire Lord would entrust you with a message for the Commander, since there are dozens of other methods for His Majesty to send a message from the Capital to Commander Jee, when he wishes."

"But the Fire Lord isn't in the Capital!" Black Clock called, his eyes flickering from one soldier to another in sheer panic now. "He is in Senlin Harbor with the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe! And they are in danger!"

He cursed inwardly when he saw their baffled gazes. To these soldiers, the Fire Lord was a faceless force based in the volcanic Capital City, as powerful and unyielding as a thunderstorm. That was why Zuko had told him to ask for Commander Jee, who would probably know the young Fire Lord in person.

"Not in the Capital?" The tallest of the soldiers repeated disbelievingly and both soldiers turned to look at each other as Black Clock tried to swallow away the rising bile.

For a moment they hesitated, then the smaller one cast a glance at the trembling thief and mumbled to his colleague, "There are rumors confirming this man's story. Yesterday, I heard Commander Jee saying something to the Captain about the Fire Lord coming to Senlin Harbor… He didn't sound too pleased with it."

They both averted their gazes towards Black Clock and a frightened expression passed over his hard worn features.

"You said you can prove to us you have been sent by the Fire Lord?" The shortest asked curtly.

Black Clock simply nodded as he straightened his ragged clothing in an inconspicuous manner to establish that the ring was still there.

"I have proof, but I will show this proof to Commander Jee only," he brought out with difficulty. The hunger and exhaustion had weakened him and suddenly he felt on the edge of losing conscience when he looked up at the shorter firebender, his gaze pleading. He had run out of cunning plans as he had outrun the pirates and he simply hoped for the guards to make the right decision.

For a moment, the shorter soldier studied him, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. Then he suddenly grabbed the thief by the shoulder and yanked him up, supporting him in the process.

"All right, I'll bring you before the Fleet Commander, but you better not be a Senlin Harbor assassin."

And without listening to his companion's protests the soldier pulled Black Clock towards the gangplank.

* * *

When Black Clock woke up, sunlight poured through the small porthole on his face. He blinked and tried to turn away when his sore body protested. A miserable groan escaped him and he opened his eyes.

He appeared to be resting on a hard mattress on the floor of some kind of all steel-clad prison cell. The porthole that let in the sunlight was placed high above his head.

Carefully, he sat up and let his thoughts mull over this strange surroundings as he automatically estimated the time of the day by the incoming sunlight. It should be noon, by now.

Then he remembered.

He shot up straight, ignoring his protesting muscles as his eyes widened in shock. The message for Commander Jee!

In panic, he lunged for the door as he thought about the time he had already lost. The soldiers had not wanted to wake the Commander at such an early hour and had suggested he would get some sleep before making his appearance before the Fleet Commander.

Reluctantly, he had agreed, knowing he couldn't accomplish much against the armed soldiers. But, exhausted as he was, he had fallen asleep on this wretched mattress and he figured that the soldiers had forgotten about him.

Black Clock tried to open the door and his panic rose when he noticed that it was locked.

No, this could not be happening!

He started to pound onto the heavy steel door as he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Let me out! Is someone there? Let me out! I have to speak with Commander Jee, immediately! Please let me out, it's urgent!… I have…"

Suddenly, the door was yanked open and the helmed face of a soldier he hadn't seen before appeared in his view.

"Calm down! I will send word to the Commander that you finally woke up." A light voice said, slightly displeased. A woman.

He was pushed back into his cell and he heard the soldier talk to another soldier in hushed words, then the sound of footsteps running away on metal floors. The noise echoed through the steel-clad corridor long after the soldier had disappeared around a corner.

Black Clock sighed wearily and rested the back of his head against the steel wall as he slumped down on his mattress again. Of course they wouldn't bring him to the Commander, the Commander would come to see him in his cell. He didn't care, as long as the message was passed through.

His thoughts went over what the soldier had said when suddenly, his heart stood still. The soldier had mentioned that he had finally woken. His blood ran cold and he rushed for the door again. Harshly, he pounded on the unyielding metal to try and get the soldier's attention.

A moment later a bolt was shoved aside angrily and a pair of eyes suddenly appeared before the small window in the door. "What do you want, now? The commander is coming, don't…"

"You said I had finally woke up," Black Clock rushed, afraid that her face would disappear again. "What do you mean? How long was I out?"

The eyes narrowed as if the soldier contemplated how much she would tell him.

"You've slept for a day," she said finally and then added on a more friendly tone of voice, "You must have been exhausted. You were barely conscious when the night watch brought you in."

But, her last words were wasted on him as Black Clock had already stumbled backwards in panic. A day! He had been out for a day…

What had the Fire Lord said to him before urging him to flee for the pirates? 'Tell Commander Jee to have the entire fleet lying before Senlin Harbor on the second day of our capture.'

And he had slept through half of the time!

He closed his eyes in dismay as he grabbed the ring underneath his shirt... But, all he clenched in his fist was the rough cloth of his worn shirt.

His eyes widened and he frantically reached for the jewel, but was met with nothing. The lotus clasps were gone, too. The soldiers must have taken them from him when he was asleep.

He let out a cry of dismay and sank on his knees. He was beginning to understand that he had failed his mission. Tears started to stream down Black Clock's grimy cheeks and he knew that he, a mere thief, hadn't been worthy of the Fire Lord's trust, after all. The guards had been right. Why had Zuko not searched for another way to get in touch with his commander? Now, he and the Water Princess were trapped in a pirate's den they could never escape from…

At that moment, the heavy metal door opened and two speared soldiers grimly stepped into the prison cell, positioning themselves on both sides of the door. An older man with grey hair and the typical Fire Nation sideburns followed the soldiers. He wore a uniform similar to the other soldiers, but for the black cloak that indicated his high rank. His gold almond eyes, set in a stern face, warily eyed the panicked thief before him.

Black Clock jerked up his head and gasped.

"I believe you asked to speak with me," the man said calmly.

* * *

From small cracks in the wood of the ship, miniscule beams of moonlight fell on the couple sitting against the far end of the wall. They were bound up in each other, their hearts beating as one.

All of their pent up emotions and anxiety from the past twenty-four hours streamed into the deepening kiss, adding to the intensity until it almost became hungry. At the feeling of Katara's hand clenching his shirt, Zuko instinctively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, his heart beating furiously in his chest.

When Katara withdrew for air, Zuko was drawn back into the harsh reality in which they were imprisoned in a gloomy, damp pirate ship. He reluctantly let her go, purposely letting his fingers trail along her soft cheeks as he slowly opened his eyes. Through the lashes of his good eye he saw that she was breathing heavily like him, her gaze darkened to resemble the bottomless depths of the southern seas. She was just as effected as he was.

As they stared at each other, Zuko listened to the thundering of his heart. Kissing Katara made him realize that the idea of marrying Mai out of anything faintly resembling love was proven false forever. The remainder of what had been his crumbling denial had disappeared when Katara's soft lips had touched his. Finally, the confusing feelings then had started to connect and brightened his heart with a fiery sensation he hadn't expected to even exist, let alone hoped to fall to his share. And it involved the Water Tribe girl sitting across from him, her face mere inches from his.

But, what about Katara? How would she react?

Subconsciously, Zuko held his breath as he carefully let go of her, waiting for the first hint of regret to appear in her eyes as she would realize whom she'd just kissed. If he were honest with himself, he was surprised she'd even allowed for him to renew the contact after she'd ended her chaste kiss.

But, Katara's unreadable eyes only quietly wandered over his face, drinking in the chiseled features surrounding his fiery burn. Then she seemed to notice that her hand was still entangled in his hair. Her mouth formed a silent 'oh' and she started to withdraw, but Zuko still noticed the unhurried way in which her fingers slid through his hair in a casual caress.

His features relaxed under her touch, until she finally seemed to realize what she was doing. Her hand fell limply in her lap, where her fingers started to fumble with the frayed hem of her shirt. And the looming sadness came rushing back to him as Zuko considered her bowed head with dread.

"Katara…"

She looked up and there it was. The confusion and frustration he'd feared, storming behind the embarrassment already clouding over eyes.

A sinking feeling nestled inescapably in his stomach as he watched the waterbender he loved struggle with the inner conflict he saw. And that he loved her, of that he was absolutely certain now. There was no denying it. But, she… Perhaps, the relief over them still being alive had made her forget about herself when she kissed him. It was a thought that left his heart aching, but he forced himself to face the inevitable – that she was embarrassed about what had happened and wished to forget it as soon as possible as she could only hope that Aang wouldn't see the regret in her eyes upon her return…

As Zuko silently looked down at Katara's dejectedly bowed head, a corner in his embittered heart softened with sympathy for the waterbender and another feeling that wished to help her out, as a friend, took the upper hand.

"It's a good thing the Ember Island Theater hasn't found out about you asking Aang to kiss me for you," Zuko said quietly, not really trusting his own voice as he touched her hands in a comforting way. "I don't want to know what they would have made of that little piece of information."

Upon hearing his soft voice, Katara reluctantly looked up and her lips involuntarily twitched at the dry remark which was clearly meant to lift some of her tension. He was helping her out. Only moments ago, she'd noticed the shadow passing over his face as he closed his eyes and as a sharp pain pierced her heart she had wondered if he had been thinking about Mai. She had started to fumble with the hem of her shirt in a poor attempt to avoid his eyes, but now she noticed to her surprise that they were devoid of the self-loathing she'd feared to see with him, after he'd let himself be taken away by her totally inappropriate move. Instead, there was only warmth and encouragement, laced with only the hit of reservation.

Looking back, Katara couldn't grasp what had compelled her to lean in and kiss her traveling companion, finally succumbing to the attraction he had on her. She only remembered how she'd been thunderstruck the moment she had felt his lips on hers. It had been nothing like the faint brush from before. This time, his kiss was insisting and lingering and had become even more passionate when his strong arms had pulled her in, holding her like he would never let her go. And she had wanted him to never let go as she let herself sink into the kiss and this overwhelmingly comforting feeling of belonging…

As Katara looked into Zuko's eyes, she still felt the almost hurtful longing for Zuko's lips on hers again and she realized with painful clarity that she had never felt and would never feel anything this powerful toward Aang.

Her thoughts involuntarily went back to the moment when Sokka had asked her that demanding question. 'Why is it that you always had such a strong connection to Zuko? Knowing his feelings, understanding him at a level that no one else does? Think about it Katara, to see how much you really like The Tale of Two Lovers.'

He had been right. Of course, he had been right. Her older brother was goofy, but far from stupid. And at these things he really was more attentive to the signs and overall more experienced than her. But, in their little heart to heart Sokka had failed to mention Zuko's side of the story. So, the question still remained, what was she to Zuko? Perhaps she misinterpreted the tender gazes he cast her. After all, she did save his life and therefore, she knew, she held a special place in his heart. But, was that feeling driven by the same desire she now felt to simply bury her head in his shoulder and be held by the one person who could understand her better than perhaps her own father and brother? Or the fluttering in the pit of her stomach as she observed him when she thought he wasn't looking?

She gave him a watery smile as she subconsciously rubbed her thumbs over his hands holding hers in silent gratitude.

"What do we do now?" She asked softly and Zuko acknowledged the double meaning behind her question. He sighed and drew back his hands. He was prepared to address only one aspect of her question.

"We wait until we are received by the pirate leader, then we try to speak with him, to get as much information out of him as possible. I expect that the pirates will want to try and force me to sign a letter or something of the sort to the Fire Nation to prove my abduction to the rebelling nobles, so that's something I can try to drag. Hopefully, Commander Jee will have arrived by the time the letter will be sent."

This was all he could think of just now. Truth was, he never had thought any further than letting himself get caught to learn about the Senlin Harbor's organizational structure and then sent Black Clock on his way to warn Commander Jee. He didn't even know for certain if Black Clock had managed to reach the Eastern Fleet in time.

Katara didn't seem too pleased with his words. "If you refuse to sign they could kill you and even if you don't sign, they will still have your dagger. That's evidence enough for them."

To this, Zuko shook his head. "They won't kill me, not until they've achieved some kind of understanding with the Fire Nation nobles to do so."

His cool observation of this horrible prospect made Katara's breath hitch in her throat. Only hours ago he'd reacted almost as indifferently when the pirates in the barroom had mentioned the wish for the Fire Lord's death by parts of the Fire Nation nobility. Times like this, she was faced with how little she actually knew about the harsh sides of Zuko's everyday life. While she had shivers running down her spine, he seemed to take the threatening of his life for granted. He had become the most important card to play the pirates had ever laid their hands on and he didn't even seem to care that much.

"Will it always be this way?" Katara finally whispered and for a moment Zuko looked at her searchingly, his gaze expressing acceptance laced with a certain stubbornness she found strangely comforting. Suddenly, she felt grateful for his presence in the cell. For the moment, they were still together.

"That will be up to Agni." He chose his words carefully. "But, my position will become easier with the passing of time. That and with the birth of an heir."

He had averted his gaze to the door when he spoke and Katara was secretly glad he couldn't see the crestfallen expression that now passed over her features. Of course, she understood what he meant. The longer he would be able to hold on to his position as the Fire Lord, the more this position would become unquestionable, especially with a family of his own. In essence, his words were merely the expression of simple logic, but as Katara looked down at her hands she immediately pictured a somber, knife-throwing noble girl next to him and the image hit her harder than she'd expected.

The sound of Zuko's voice pulled her from her dejected thoughts and Katara forced herself to listen and forget about the future for now. It was their present condition which should worry her the most right now.

"I expect them to send the letter by messenger-hawk." Zuko seemed unaware of her train of thoughts as he returned to their earlier topic as he elaborated on his thoughts.

"A dagger is too heavy for the hawks to carry, especially across the sea. However, to be certain, I gave orders to Commander Jee to not let any ship pass the port mouth."

"But, how do you expect Commander Jee to intercept the letter, if there isn't any ship he can chase?" Katara looked at him doubtfully.

"The Yu Yan Archers have an expert aim," Zuko said cryptically, his dark tone of voice sending goose bumps down Katara's skin. "The Eastern Fleet has a battalion Yu Yan Archers at her disposal, since the trouble with the pirates increased about a year ago."

"Increased?" Katara raised her eyebrows and Zuko nodded wearily.

"Yes, you heard it right. Until about three years ago, Senlin Harbor had been a problem, but a manageable one at that. We don't know why, but from then their presence on the high seas increased rapidly while somehow the pirates seemed to have developed new ways to keep out of the grasp of the authorities. I think…" he said as he leaned the back of his head against the wall, "that Senlin Harbor either has a new leader or they never had a leader before. Someone who knows to build and maintain a powerful, invisible and impenetrable organizational structure. I got the feeling that the increasing menace on the high seas is only the beginning. Senlin Harbor will be presented with the opportunity of destabilizing the entire region and eventually, the whole world, if we don't succeed in stopping them..."

He sighed and as he closed his eyes he pulled up one of his legs while stretching the other one. It had been a long day and night.

For a moment, Katara let this sink in, then she slowly moved to sit beside him and placed her head lightly on his shoulder. A feeling of immense relief washed over Zuko, who had been afraid that she would shy away from him after their kiss. He didn't know if he could have handled the added disappointment.

"We'll stop them, Zuko," Katara mumbled reassuringly in the darkness. "Like you said before, we still have the advantage that the pirates don't know who they are really dealing with."

Zuko's expression suddenly darkened. He remembered he'd told her this before, but suddenly her confidence sparked a great insecurity with him and Zuko raked his hand over his eyes.

"And exactly who are they dealing with, then?" He asked tiredly as doubt over his decision to stay behind in Senlin Harbor washed over him with unexpected force. After all, if all went wrong and the Black Clock didn't succeed in reaching Commander Jee in time, it would still be two against thousands…

"They are dealing with two of the Young War Heroes, Master benders and teachers to the Avatar," Katara replied, her voice clear and stern, warning him not to forget. "And…" she added after a second, " they're dealing with the Order of the White Lotus."

Instinctively, Zuko's arm tightened around her as he let out a sigh. "You're right, thank you, Katara."

Of course she was right… but, what stuck in his memory the most was the fact she had referred to Aang as the Avatar and not as her boyfriend. Gratefully, he rested his cheek on her soft hair in response and he was glad when she didn't protest.

* * *

When Commander Jee unexpectedly entered his small cell, Black Clock stumbled backwards in surprise, but was quick to look up at the authoritative commander in panic.

"The ring? Where is it? And the lotus clasps. Those, too. I promised the Fire Lord…"

For a moment, the Commander studied him silently, then his hand rose in a calming gesture.

"The ring and lotus clasps are handed over to me, man of Senlin Harbor. Don't panic. The question is…"

He took a step forward and bent over slightly, his eyes narrowing as he held out the golden signet ring to the thief. "… what lowlife like yourself is doing with those highly precious jewels in his possession?"

Involuntarily, a sigh of relief escaped Black Clock when he saw the stylized dragon glistening on the jewel that rested in the Commander's palm. The ring was safe.

He didn't notice when Commander Jee twitched his eyebrow in surprise. Clearly, he had expected another reaction from the thief, but the dirty man desperately wrung his hands.

"The Fire Lord has entrusted me with the jewels, so that the Commander of the Fire Navy Eastern Fleet would know I was sent by the Fire Lord. Please…There's little time left. The Fire Lord requested the presence of his fleet in Senlin Harbor, two days from the night he would let himself get caught…"

"Wait," the Commander interrupted him, an expression of disbelief passing over his impassive features, "the Fire Lord purposely let the pirates capture him?"

Black Clock nodded helplessly. "And the Water Princess, too. Although, at first the Fire Lord didn't agree with that, he wanted…"

But, the Commander cut him off again, having no patience with the thief's rambling. "So, the rumors are true then," he established coldly. "His Majesty is on a journey with the Water Princess…"

Suddenly, he took step closer to Black Clock who backed away slightly.

"According to those rumors the Dragon of the West requested this journey to save the Order of the White Lotus by finding His Majesty's mother…"

The thief looked away guiltily under the Commander's piercing and somewhat accusing gaze.

"… but, why would the Fire Lord put his life and that of the Water Princess in danger by coming to Senlin Harbor and let himself get caught?"

The Commander's expression became implacable and Black Clock bowed his head. "The Fire Lord and the Water Princess came to see me," he confessed softly. "They needed information… Which I naturally gave them. But, then the Fire Lord decided to stay behind."

His defeated tone of voice betrayed that he still doubted Zuko's actions.

"Why?" The Commander demanded as a frightful frown appeared on his features and Black Clock winced. "The Fire Lord said that he wanted to gather information on Senlin Harbor. He… he said he had a duty to the Fire Nation, too."

The thief's anxious voice trailed away. He half expected that the Commander would reproach him for not leading the Fire Lord to safety when he had the chance, but such a reaction failed to occur.

Instead, Commander Jee remained quiet and mixed emotions flickered in his eyes before his features became impassive again.

"The Fire Lord is an honorable man whose loyalty toward his country I hold in very high esteem," he then finally said and turned around abruptly. "Call together all captains and see that this man gets washed and fed. We're steaming up for Senlin Harbor, immediately."

* * *

"Wake up!"

Groggily Katara opened one eye, only to startle awake when Zuko suddenly shot up next to her. She could barely keep herself from tumbling to the ground.

"What do you know. Here I am to come and get some prisoners for interrogation and I catch the Fire Lord and the Water Princess sleeping in each other's arms…. How sweet and symbolic. So, you two have made up with each other, after all."

That voice… it was female, low and a little husky. Katara would recognize that voice everywhere and she was shocked to realize that she'd also heard yesterday, purposely contorted to avoid recognition. 'The arms, check the Fire Lord's arms…'

Katara jerked up her head and she was met with a familiar face. "Jun!"

The bounty hunter looked down on them with an amused expression in her hooded eyes, then turned around. "I've been asked to bring you before the leader of Senlin Harbor, so if you two would be so kind to come with me…"

"No, wait," Katara said stiffly, her voice low as she scrambled up. "Why are you here, Jun?"

The disapproval dripped from her features and an amused smile ghosted over Jun's lips. "They pay good money, Sweetness. But that's nothing of interest. What's really the interesting question here is why you are here. Does the Avatar know his girlfriend is traveling with his biggest rival?"

"Watch it, Jun," Zuko cut in on a warning tone as Katara's face contorted in anger, but Jun only chuckled shortly and followed his gaze to his wrist where now a vicious red scab marred the pale skin. She cast Zuko a slightly mocking smile.

"A little spree, Lord Hothead. You didn't mind, did you? Now, if you'd please follow me I would be obliged… I have more things to do than accompanying royalty on the lose."

When they arrived at the Captain's Cabin at last, they found the room twice as crowded as the night before, and countless suspicious, unfriendly and barely concealed hostile gazes followed Zuko and Katara as they walked with heads erect towards the raised platform. The seat was now empty.

Katara slowly let her eyes wander through the familiar room, from the carved beams in the low ceiling to the small portholes behind the mumbling pirates. She didn't have to close her eyes to sense the water behind it and she readied herself to summon it when necessary.

As Jun took her place to the side, watching them with that same amused expression she wore on her face when she had woken them up, the travelers heard a door softly open and close behind the raised platform.

Then a silky baritone voice spoke from behind the line of pirates.

"Well, well. Who would have thought we would meet again… Your Majesty?"

A tall man dressed in long green robes and with a calculating gaze in his green eyes, stepped into view with measured grace. An indulgent half smile appeared on his handsome features as he stood still, hands clasped on his back.

Zuko couldn't help but let a momentary expression of surprise pass over his features. "The Dai Li group leader!"

Though he hadn't known whom to expect to appear before them, it certainly wasn't him. His body tensed up as he realized the consequences of this turn of events.

The smile on the earthbender's face became smug. "So, you do recognize me. Welcome to Senlin Harbor, brother of Princess Azula."

* * *

As soon as Uncle Iroh had finished his morning tea in the living room, he took Zuko's letter and broke the seal. He had been excited to have received a message from his nephew before, but now an anxious, foreboding feeling suddenly made a knot in his stomach as he stared at the opening scroll.

His eyes flew across the closely written parchment and with each paragraph Iroh became paler and paler. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all.

When he'd finished the last sentence, Iroh's dismayed eyes lingered on the signature with which Zuko had signed the letter to his uncle. The signature consisted of a series of characters which had only been used for a short while, more than three years ago, but never by him.

Iroh's knuckles turned white as he fully grasped the meaning behind the silent message.

Zŭ Kòu.

Ancestor's robber. Traitor.

He had to act right now.

* * *

**A/N:** _Thank you all so very much for your enthusiastic reviews! Everyone went crazy about the first real Zutara kiss in this fic! I'm so excited you all liked it. And while I can promise this isn't going to be the last kiss, I can also say that the tension isn't over yet: as you have read, Zuko now is pretty certain about his feelings, but Katara seems to hesitate..._

_I would especially like to thank Strata's Stargazer. You were one of my first reviewers and I'm glad you still like the story. I hope you will like it until the end. And I'm glad you liked the twist with the Black Clock :-)._

_About this chapter: _

_I started this chapter from Momo's point of view. The lemur was so much fun to write! The prompt is from the Ursroh-week on Da and I've chosen to refer to one way in which one can write Zuko's name. The other way will be covered later on..._

_And Jun has returned! In case you're wondering how she ended up with the pirates, I'll try to explain. __The way I see it, Jun isn't simply to be put on the good side or the bad side. She's on her own side. We don't know why she's with the pirates. The pirates pay good money indeed, but for what? And does that mean she works for them, or works for them more often? Is she a traitor (too)? And what is a traitor?  
_

_As for the leader of Senlin Harbor, he turned out to be the leader of the group of Dai Li agents (not Long Feng! He was the leader of the entire Dai Li organization) Azula had taken with her to the Fire Nation and banished when she got crazy. I bet a lot of people were thinking of Long Feng?_

_For the Black Clock I couldn't resist referring a little bit to that other ring which turned out to be very heavy to carry...:-)._

_Thank you so much for reading!_


	27. Balance

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 27: Balance**

Music: Joe Hisaishi, Laputa Castle In The Sky Theme (Laputa Castle in the Sky)

* * *

The beams of the weak autumnal sun hesitantly peeked through the small window into the small room in the modest Upper Ring house and Toph stirred, noticing the change in the environment. She smiled when something soft touched her forehead and for the moment she allowed herself to nestle somewhat closer into her pillow's neck, until the rustle of heavy robes in the doorway woke her up. Consciousness came rushing back to her, but when her ears perked up at the sound it was gone.

That's it. Now she was awake.

Toph sighed and despite herself decided to stay still for a little longer and listen to her pillow's even breathing as she put her hand on his arm resting on her stomach and marveled over the smooth texture of the skin.

This night had been a rough one again. The presence of Toph next to him wasn't nearly enough anymore to keep Aang's nightmares from hunting him. A few days ago they had returned and they only intensified with each passing night. There was nothing Toph could do about it anymore. As always, Aang had been screaming for her, his whole body quivering as tears poured down his cheeks and onto her bare arms. At one point Toph even had to use earthbending to keep him down. Then, he had suddenly relaxed and unconsciously reached for her.

"Katara…" he had sighed helplessly and Toph had closed her eyes resignedly as he tightened his arms around her. She knew what he would say next. "I'm sorry…"

The first time he had whispered these words Toph had lain awake for the rest of the night, cursing her luck that she had to fall in love with the airbender who was so hopelessly devoted to Katara. But, as one night followed the other she had started to wonder what it was that made him repeat this apology to the waterbender, time and time again. And she started to notice that the whispered beg for forgiveness followed the tightening of his arms around her. She began to cherish this moment she previously had dreaded the most when the airbender would wrap his strong arms around her and fall asleep exhaustedly as this was the only moment when Aang completely let his guard down towards her.

Toph knew he still suspected that she knew far more about Iroh's plans concerning Zuko and Katara than she let on. She felt it when his eyes warily followed her and Iroh's every movements and heard the silent questions burning behind innocent remarks. He was only partially right, though.

Living with Iroh for three years had taught Toph a lot about the Order of the White Lotus, but most of this time she and Iroh had simply enjoyed the quiet life together, the mentor and the pupil, in the legendary city of Ba Sing Se.

That was, until that letter arrived. A letter from the fortuneteller of Makapu Village.

The letter she hadn't been allowed to read but had caused her uncle, who loved Ba Sing Se so dearly, to immediately put aside all his business and start preparing for their travel to Omashu, thousands of miles away from Ba Sing Se.

Not until they had arrived in the Golden City Iroh had slightly lifted the veil of his mysterious plans, stating he needed her help. And he had told her about Princess Ursa.

During their conversation in the Royal Palace Toph had been honest with Aang and had shared with him what little knowledge she had about Zuko and Katara's objectives and their importance to the Order's future. He had refused to believe, though, that she didn't know more than she'd told him. And of course, he had resented her part in whatever scheme Iroh was executing.

With the advance of time, however, Aang seemed to settle into their quiet life in Ba Sing Se and let the topic rest. Instead he resigned to merely enjoying their time together. And with the growing threat of Aang's nightmares looming at the background his attention to her seemed to intensify with a soft tenderness that covered an increasing worry about her.

When the northern winds grew strong enough to bring the first snow of the season the whole of Ba Sing Se was suddenly covered with a white, downy layer that rounded sharp corners and muffled the city noise into a calm buzz. Toph's brigade had to put their activities on hold and a sleepy quiet descended on the stilled city. The brigade was silently grateful for this as they had worriedly followed the strength mysteriously being drained from the two Young War Heroes.

At least until the main roads had been cleared from snow, Iroh decided to keep the Jasmine Dragon closed as well. And to make the quiet days time well spent, he appointed the two young teens as guinea pigs for the new tea blends he wanted to try out.

Toph and Aang were imprisoned in Iroh's crowded and dimly lit living room, surrounded by half empty teacups. The somber, grey daylight never made it inside anymore. The little light that came from the candles that burned even during the day made the eyes of the grinning monkey statue glisten hauntingly.

"Ugh, my stomach feels like it's going to burst any moment. Do you think we're almost done?" Aang sighed at one point as he finished his umpteenth cup of tea, his voice sounding a little desperate.

A dark expression appeared in Toph's sightless eyes as she blew into her cup of ginseng tea. She didn't respond but she had the feeling they wouldn't be finished tasting tea for a long time.

There was something about her uncle Iroh keeping himself busy that she didn't trust. She sensed a tension with him and it had something to do with that letter he received from Zuko yesterday. She wondered what was in that letter that had the normally so collected Grandmaster so restless. It worried her.

Thankfully though, many hours and countless cups of tea later Iroh finally took pity on them and Toph found herself on the low bench outside the cramped house. Next to her sat her mentor, who watched thoughtfully as Aang blew away the snow in front of their small house in the Upper Ring. The airbender had thought it a nice opportunity to avoid drinking more tea.

With barely noticeable movements of her sensitive feet Toph followed Aang's progress as he worked his way through the snow, using very powerful gusts of winds. She could tell from his raised heartbeat that his cheeks were rosy from the cold and she could hear Momo fly around him, chattering. It made for a very idyllic picture in her head.

"What are you smiling at, young Lady Bei Fong?" Uncle Iroh's dragging voice pulled the petite earthbender from her thoughts and she frowned, feeling caught.

"I'm just glad with Aang cleaning up the snow, so I can see again. The snow dulls my senses," Toph hastily defended herself, her expression actually softening at this. She knew that Aang, though he liked being able to get his energy out this way, primarily did this for her.

"But while he's cleaning the pathways, don't you think that he should be doing something different?" Uncle Iroh sounded thoughtful and Toph's eyes momentarily closed at the question she'd already expected to come. His worried attention to them had confirmed what her weary body had already told her, that they both must look completely miserable by now.

"Uncle… will those dreams ever come to an end?"

"No," Iroh replied simply although a hint of regret laced his voice. "Not until Aang has acknowledged the dreams haunting him."

"I… I wish I could do something to help him…" Toph whispered dejectedly. She felt so tired all of a sudden as all of the broken nights suddenly caught up with her simply at her voicing this quiet acknowledgement.

"Oh, but you are," the Grandmaster said. He sounded almost surprised. "Your presence helps Aang sleep at night. A good night's sleep is worth much."

The corners of Toph's mouth lowered as Aang's whirling wind caressed her skin and gently swayed the bangs framing her sightless eyes. "It feels like the dreams are getting worse again. He won't tell me about them… He just wakes up and screams my name."

"Only yours?" Iroh quietly inquired.

"Most of the time, yes. But sometimes he calls for Katara, too…" Toph sighed. "He sounds so full of regret as he calls her name, almost… as if he's saying goodbye."

She couldn't help but notice the slight movement next to her but Iroh's voice didn't betray anything when he said evenly, "Maybe he is… Aang's dreams are telling him that what he's been avoiding ever since he run off on Guru Patik can no longer be evaded anymore. Perhaps he's starting to accept the truth in them, though at the moment only subconsciously, in his dreams."

Iroh cast a glance at the young Earth Kingdom noble girl - so delicate, so tough. She didn't seem to understand her mentor's reference to the Guru though as her brows frowned slightly at his words.

"Did Aang ever tell you how exactly he reached the Avatar State on time to defeat the Fire Lord?" Iroh asked tentatively.

"Yeah, countless of times." Impatiently, Toph blew away her bangs. "He fell with his back against the rocks, right onto the scar he got from Azula's attempt to kill him in Ba Sing Se. Pretty lame, if you're asking me."

"Lame…" Iroh mumbled thoughtfully but refrained from commenting on her careless choice of words. "How so?"

"Obviously, Twinkle Toes made a mistake in his stances. An earthbender does not stumble back and fall."

Iroh couldn't help but smile at the earthbending sifu's displeasure with her prodigy student as her glass eyes glanced at where she suspected the feathery airbender to be. The young Avatar waved from the distance and made an air scooter with which he returned to the house.

"So, you'll finally admit he's an earthbender, too?" Uncle Iroh lightly teased his pupil and a slight smile curled up the corners of Toph's mouth at her Air Nomad friend's approach. "Hardly."

* * *

"You know the human body and mind consists of seven chakras, each controlling an essential part of the human being?"

Toph felt that a strange shift had occurred in the world surrounding her. No longer was she in her bed but while she had finally fallen asleep she had entered this dream world where she barely had any control over her senses. There was almost no sound and a downy feeling to her feet hindered her sight. All that was left was a faint trail of a moist scent in the air as she appeared to be in a swamp. It made her feel infuriatingly helpless.

Her heart jumped in relief at hearing Aang's soft voice. Gratitude that he was here with her washed over her.

"Does it?" Toph said as she hesitantly attempted to make a step forward. It didn't work out - she swayed and felt two strong arms wrap around her to keep her from falling.

"It does. Now it is best if you don't try to walk." Aang's tenor voice was tender as he steadied her and pulled back. "You'll be all right."

Toph tried to fight the blush creeping up at the feeling of loss his retreating grip caused and bowed her head.

"And what chakras are there?" She asked to distract herself from the awkwardness and the utterly blindness surrounding her. "Aang?"

"Relax Toph, I'm here."

His soothing voice suddenly came from very close behind her and a shiver ran down her spine as his breath tickled her sensitive ears. Her breath caught when he lightly touched her shoulder.

"Now, the first chakra is the Earth Chakra," he started to explain on a tone she couldn't quiet decipher but captivated her immediately. "The Earth Chakra circulates through survival and is blocked by fear. It's located here."

Involuntarily, Toph closed her eyes when the weight of his hand momentarily grew heavier before it disappeared. But, before she could mourn the loss of his touch, she felt a light touch on the base of her spine. Toph's eyes widened.

Aang chuckled to himself. "Of course my earthbending sifu knows all about survival and I don't think the Blind Bandit has ever felt any fear."

Toph couldn't move, her mouth turning dry all of a sudden. For once, she couldn't hear his steady heartbeat anymore as her own blood started to pound in her ears.

"The second chakra is the Water Chakra…" Aang's voice took on a subdued tone. "The Water Chakra circulates through pleasure and is blocked by guilt."

Before Aang's hand got a chance to move upwards, Toph sensed where the Water Chakra was located.

"The sacrum," she whispered in shock. It was the place where Azula's lightening had hit Aang in the back. The location of pleasure. "What…"

But, Aang didn't allow for her to linger on the Water Chakra as his voice gently but decisively cut her off. "The third chakra is the Fire Chakra. It circulates through willpower and is blocked by shame."

Toph's heartbeat quickened when he stepped in front of her and put his hand on her stomach.

"The Fire Chakra is based in the stomach," he said and Toph couldn't help slightly tilting her face upwards at his closeness. "Zuko has learned to overcome his shame to become the powerful firebender he's today."

Toph didn't react to the hint of bitterness in Aang's voice at mentioning his firebending sifu as she was overwhelmed by his closeness and the hand draped over her stomach.

"The fourth chakra is the Air Chakra," Aang's voice had grown softer. "The Air Chakra circulates through love and is blocked by grief…"

All of Toph's breath was knocked out of her when his hand moved to rest above her left breast where her heart was thundering in her chest.

"It's located in the heart…" A hint of hoarseness laced Aang's voice and Toph could sense the slight tremble in his hand. She subconsciously parted her lips and for a moment they stood there like this until Aang leaned in to close the last distance between them.

Toph closed her eyes as an urge even greater than the thundering of her heart made her voice a question that would break the moment she had longed for to happen for years.

"What about the next chakra?" Her jaw clenched in regret when his hand pulled back immediately, but despite her misgivings he didn't distance himself from her.

"The fifth chakra is the Sound Chakra," Aang then quietly complied to her request. "The Sound Chakra circulates through truth and is blocked by lies. It's located in the throat."

He put a gentle hand on her throat and his fingers slightly caressed her delicate neck. A dizzy feeling came over her and she swallowed.

"And what lies are you telling yourself, Aang?" She felt compelled to ask.

For a moment, he didn't respond, then Toph unexpectedly felt the light touch of his fingers against her forehead. For a moment, he allowed himself to let his fingers slide through the silky strands of her long bangs, before he whispered, "The sixth chakra is the Light Chakra. It circulates through insight and is blocked by illusion. It's located in the forehead."

Despite herself, Toph sighed at feeling his loving touch. "Is this an illusion?" She replied as softly, the slight tremble in her voice betraying the hope she tried to suppress.

In reaction, Aang pulled her into a tight embrace and leaned his forehead against hers. "Not more than me seeing you in a swamp, held together by the roots of one holy tree…"

Toph drew in a sharp breath. In her memory a boyish voice, so much lighter than nowadays, spoke up excitedly. 'And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and …'

"You saw me," she whispered and she felt him smile against her forehead. "I saw you."

For a moment, Toph was silent and Aang simply continued to hold the petite earthbender against him.

"The last chakra," Toph whispered finally, "you haven't told me about the last chakra yet."

Aang didn't move, but when Toph thought he hadn't heard her at all, he shifted his head to let his chin rest on her smooth hair.

"The seventh chakra is the Thought Chakra," his gentle voice coursed through her body as he spoke. "It circulates through pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachments…"

"Earthly attachments," Toph repeated quietly as her mind finally made the last connection.

Aang's grip on her tightened. "The Thought Chakra is located in the crown of the head…" he said wistfully. Then he slowly pressed a kiss on her hair.

At that moment, the world started to spin around Toph. She lost the last of her orientation as the ground under her feet whirled faster and faster and a cackling laugh she couldn't place filled the air. Stumbling back, she lost contact with Aang but not before she felt his smooth skin change under her touch and the image of an enormous centipede appeared before her mind's eye.

She cried out in fear.

* * *

"Toph! Toph! Wake up… Wake up, Toph!"

She was jolted awake by a pair of strong hands that willed her to regain consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open, filled with fright.

"Aang!"

"It was a bad dream…" She heard someone say at her hoarse cry. "Shush. It's over now, only a bad dream."

Toph felt two arms circle around her safely as Aang continued to whisper calming words into her ear while his hands stroked her hair, moist with cold sweat.

Petrified, she let him pull her against him and stayed in his arms long after the airbender's even breathing indicated that he had fallen asleep again and her fear had worn off.

Toph's glassy eyes blinked in the darkness as she recalled the dream. Despite the ending, it hadn't been that bad altogether she concluded as her heart skipped a few beats at the memory.

And as she finally closed her eyes, she knew she had to talk to her uncle Iroh.

* * *

The following night, when Aang had fallen asleep, Toph slowly untangled herself from his arms and slipped out of bed.

Her quiet footsteps sounded hollow in the empty corridor as she carefully made her way toward the door screen at the far end. It was slightly ajar.

Unnoticed by Toph, a weak light cast a golden beam across her pale features when she stopped and waited for the old man to invite her inside. With her feet she could sense that he was sitting behind his desk, writing a letter. She could feel the worry in his raised heartbeat as the brush rushed over the rustling parchment.

When he didn't respond to her presence in the doorway, she softly cleared her throat. "Uncle Iroh..."

Now he looked up and a smile formed on his thin lips. "Toph. Come in, my child. I was already expecting you."

* * *

"… and I'm getting worried about all this, now that Aang's dreams have returned and I'm starting to have nightmares as well. It also felt like… I somehow recognized this world."

Iroh had fixed his thoughtful eyes on Toph's features as she quietly told him about last night's dream. She was embarrassed, he could tell, but she also knew this was not the time for pubescent emotions to be allowed to be in the way. That was one of the many things Iroh admired about his pupil - the sense of responsibility she possessed even at such a young age. It also saddened him though that she wasn't enjoying her teenage years the way a teenager should. But, which of the youth that formed Team Avatar had? It seemed as though the notion bothered him more than Toph and her friends did.

Despite that he had hoped otherwise, Iroh had known that the Spirit World would sooner or later catch up with Toph, too. And he knew that now the time had come that all players in this game of Pai Sho moved into their final positions before all was going to change. For the better or for worse. Autumn was almost over.

"So, now you know about the chakras."

Iroh's old voice pulled Toph from her reverie and as his piercing eyes searchingly passed over her face he was rewarded with the reaction he hoped for.

Toph fumbled with her hands. "When Aang was hit in the back by Azula's lightening… It never blocked the Avatar State, didn't it?"

"I would like to think the young Avatar led himself to believe that it was Azula's lightening causing the blockade," Iroh said diplomatically, "but no… The scar on his back has never been an obstacle for him to going into the Avatar State again as long as he would let go of his earthly attachments, like the Guru had told him…"

"…his love for Katara…" Toph understood, nodding sadly at the thought. Iroh didn't respond to this and his pupil cocked her head. She felt he didn't agree with her choice of words but before she could start to wonder why her eyes widened in shock.

"No," she whispered. "Not love... but pleasure. That's where Azula hit him... in the sacrum, the location of the Water Chakra!"

Iroh now nodded in approval. His beloved pupil was very quick in understanding of what the Spirit World had tried to tell her. Because of her heightened senses he didn't even have to speak to nudge her in the right direction. "You're absolutely right, young lady Bei Fong. Sadly, Aang still needs to acknowledge that what blocked the Avatar State for real back then."

"But… with Appa gone, he can't just go and see Guru Pathik again. There's thousands of miles between Ba Sing Se and the Eastern Air Temple!"

Iroh allowed himself a bitter smile at the slight panic lacing Toph's voice. "Oh, he won't be needing Guru Pathik anymore, my pupil," he responded a bit grimly. "He's perfectly capable of opening the seventh chakra by himself. The Guru has taught him well.

"But, here we have arrived with one of my biggest regrets of the past few years. A perfect example of how wisdom doesn't always come with old age, even when one is the Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus. Once I told the Avatar that it was good to love and that cosmic power was heavily overrated. Of course, I was speaking from my own background at that time as I wanted nothing more than to give up the throne which was rightfully mine, to have my own teashop in Ba Sing Se. The horror I had caused and suffered in the name of a violent and evil power had clouded my mind to the true meaning behind the Avatar's words when he asked my advice on the matter."

He furrowed his eyebrows and bowed his head. "There hasn't a day gone by in which I don't regret what I've told a confused, young Avatar in the crystal caves of Ba Sing Se back then. I strengthened him in the wrong resolve, which now has turned out to be a threat to the safety of the world."

A regretful sigh escaped him and his voice sounded weary all of a sudden. "Maybe, if I hadn't put the Avatar on the wrong path, I already would have had grandchildren by now. But…" he cut himself off. "This being said, I would want to ask you to remember the answer you gave me earlier when I asked you how Aang was forced into the Avatar State that fortunate day he defeated my brother. With this newly acquired knowledge, what would your answer be on this beautiful night?"

"His back hit a rock," Toph started, then her eyes suddenly widened. "His back hit a rock..." she repeated whisperingly and Iroh smiled approvingly.

"Yes, my dear. The element of earth has forced the Avatar into the Avatar State, forcefully disconnecting him from the obsession that had bound him to this attachment and by doing so saved him from utter ruin. Your element."

Toph had frozen to her spot as Iroh's voice died away. The petite, pale girl dressed in a white nightgown suddenly looked fragile as the light of the oil lamp reflected the astonishment in her unfocused eyes. When she finally bowed her head her ink black hair hid her delicate features from view but Iroh still felt the confusion and hope warring inside his pupil and his golden eyes softened with sympathy.

"Shouldn't his chakra be blocked by guilt?" Her mouth barely moved as she whispered her question.

Iroh sighed as he shifted his gaze toward the flame in the oil lamp. "Oh, but Aang does feel guilty," he replied evenly. "Mostly towards you. Because he feels he's withholding you from reaching the purest love within, the love based in the fourth chakra, while he can't distance himself from his obsession with Katara. And sometimes towards Katara herself, because he's keeping her from what she really needs. Therefore, the Avatar now has become the key to the salvation of the Order of the White Lotus."

"So… What do you want us to do? Undertake a journey like Zuko and Katara?" Confusion shone in Toph's glass eyes as she looked up.

But Iroh shook his head. "Zuko and Katara's journey is different from yours. The Fire Lord and the Water Princess are the destined to save the world, lead the world, be the world. But you and the Avatar… Aang has seen enough of the world as it is. It won't make him any wiser to send him on another travel across the world. His destiny lies somewhere else, in a place intangible like the element the people of his nation used to wield. He has to make a journey worthy of the Avatar, a spiritual counterpart to Zuko and Katara's travel that will bring back the balance between the real world and the Spirit World."

For a moment he hesitated, then he concluded softly, "Toph, I need you to go into the Spirit World with him."

The moment his voice had faltered Toph had known what he would say next but it still shocked her to the core.

"The Spirited World," she repeated hoarsely as the fears of her nightmares came racing back to her. Several shivers ran down her spine and for a split second she thought she heard the faint echo of a cackling laugh in her ears.

"But," she broke the silence, "I'm not like Aang. How can I ever follow him into the Spirit World?"

Unseen by his pupil, the Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus cast a dark glance at the statue of a hideous monkey with gleaming ruby eyes in the corner of his study. "I think I know a way."

* * *

**A/N:** _Thanks for all those lovely reviews I received on the previous chapter! I hope you liked this chapter, too. A Taang centered chapter, this time from Toph's point of view. _

_In answer to some of the questions I received about Jun's appearance in Senlin Harbor I would like to point out that while the Dai Li Group Leader appears to be switching allegiances pretty easily, Jun has none at all. She is on neither side and is unpredictable that way.  
_

_Thanks for reading!_


	28. Manipulative

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 28: Manipulative**

Music: Damon Albarn & Michael Nyman, Ives Returns (Ravenous)

* * *

The sound of snow creaking underneath a pair of boots echoed through the streets in the Upper Ring as the elderly man headed for one of the balustrades that gave wide view over the city below. Two silent messenger hawks were perched on his arm, their little heads inclining with the man's measured steps as they sometimes clicked their sharp nozzles.

When the man reached the balustrade he took a moment to look down on the thousands of small lights lighting up the glittering snow. His thoughts went back to the last time he had been standing here. There had been a setting sun that bathed the city in a golden light. He realized that since that moment, almost half a season had passed accounted for by the blazing autumn colors which had made place for glistening ice crystals that now clung to the bare branches and wove a fantastical pattern in the night blue sky.

Iroh put his hand on the snowy balustrade and the gold of his signet ring gleamed against the pale color of his wrinkled skin. The battle wasn't over yet. Much depended on the decisions the young people would make on their respective quests. He could only hope it were the right ones.

He thought of Toph and Aang who were at home sleeping peacefully and somehow he felt grateful for it. Grateful to know at least two of the young people in relative safety under his watchful gaze.

When Toph had come to him for help it had been earlier than he had expected, but he had known what to do. It had been difficult though. Over the years he had developed fatherly or rather grandfatherly feelings for the young earthbender and it had actually pained him to willingly put her onto the path that would ultimately lead her to the Spirit World. Of course, his pupil was brave and despite her obvious shock she had accepted the prospect with determination but, when her mentor had watched her leave his study it had been with regret and worry in his weary gaze as he knew from experience that any journey into the Spirit World wouldn't be without danger.

The old man turned his head west and with the small movement his thoughts shifted from the two youngsters in Ba Sing Se to the ones whose travels had led them to a harbor town thousands of miles behind the plains that surrounded the enormous city of Ba Sing Se and by that had put themselves in immense danger.

The Grandmaster knew of the Fire Nation's struggle with the pirates in Senlin Harbor all too well as the problems Zuko was facing there frequently returned in the young man's letters to his uncle. To date, the attempts to clear the sea and Earth Kingdom hinterland from the pirates had been fruitless. It was a lost fight because of the lack of information on the smuggler's den. Iroh had tried to advise his nephew in the matter to the best of his ability, but even the Grandmaster's knowledge of the shady harbor town was limited. Order members weren't thick on the ground in Senlin Harbor and the only one who actually managed to endure life there obviously wasn't among the most high-principled. His inner demons often got in the way of his responsibility towards his Order, but the Grandmaster still recognized his enormous value for the White Lotus, even though the man himself did not.

If Iroh were honest with himself, he hadn't taken into account the possibility that Zuko and Katara's journey would lead them to Senlin Harbor. And knowing his nephew, he was sure that the young man would never willingly take the Water Princess into the harbor town. So, he was shocked when he had received Zuko's letter from Senlin Village.

At first sight, the short note contained only a dry, almost off-handed announcement of their visit to Senlin Harbor, but to the close reader it was a warning for upcoming danger of such magnitude that the Fire Lord had found it necessary to inform his uncle of his whereabouts. It hadn't been the message itself though that had Iroh terror-stricken but the Fire Lord's signature underneath it. The spelling of his name had been an apology. An apology to the Order of the White Lotus and to its Grandmaster. The Fire Lord would not stand back if danger would find him in Senlin Harbor.

Zuko's letter was the reason that Iroh now fastened two small leather jugs to the claws of the either messenger hawk, his eyes filled with worry. His thoughts went to his contact in Senlin Harbor. Years ago, Zuko had been introduced to this member of the Order when the cross-patched adolescent prince had pressed his uncle into letting him come along on his visit to that shady tea merchant. Though he had regretted his indulgence toward Zuko at the time, feeling that he had endangered his nephew's life, Iroh now felt grateful for it. He knew that Zuko would remember Black Clock and would try to find the man. There was no doubt that Zuko would succeed in finding him. Even if the Grandmaster's nephew wouldn't be the brilliant tracker he was Iroh suspected that Black Clock's bad luck would have him run into the Fire Lord the moment he entered town. Iroh only hoped Zuko wouldn't hurt the ragged member of his Order too much before he would recognize him. It was hard to believe that once, in happier times, this man had been a Fire Sage…

The Grandmaster let once of the two messenger hawks, a fairly ordinary looking bird, hop onto his arm and whispered, "Fly to the Western Province Capital where the Earth Kingdom Governor resides and bring him word of the Dragon of the West."

The bird clicked with his sharp beak and spread his mighty wings. The next moment he disappeared in the dark of the night and Iroh turned toward the other messenger hawk on the balustrade. This bird was a female and a very beautiful one. She had extraordinary golden feathers that gleamed in the light of the pale moon. The plumes falling from her tail were dark red as were the feathers framing the bird's velvety eyes.

For a moment, Iroh stroked the messenger hawk with a gentle touch, then let her hop onto his arm as well. His dragging voice had a somewhat regretful hint to it when he told her, "You have been with me for a long time, in honor of a promise to only send you back when in dire need. Now that moment has arrived. Fly with certainty and with the winds under your wings. You know where to go. May Agni be with you."

The Grandmaster's eyes followed the disappearing bird while in the east a hesitant ray of light announced the coming of a new day. Then he whispered, "Oh Zuko, I hope you don't do anything rash, my boy."

* * *

The moment Black Clock lifted the spoon towards his mouth a strong vibration went through the guest cabin where he sat cross legged on his mattress. The spoon shook in his hand and the same instant a searing pain went through him as the hot soup fell on his lap. With a soft cry he shot up and waving his hands he started to hop from one foot to another in a hopeless attempt to end the burning sensation as a dark spot formed on his new red clothes.

At that moment, the door to his cabin opened and Commander Jee silently watched as Black Clock froze in his painful dance.

"I thought you were given new clothes," he finally commented coolly as his gaze wandered to the stain on the thief's trousers.

Helplessly, Black Clock looked up at him. "It's the soup, sir. The ship… It suddenly started..."

"...Moving," the Commander finished his sentence for him. "Yes, we've started the engines and are gaining speed now."

He moved past the unfortunate thief and went to stand by the small porthole, his face grim as he looked out the window. Black Clock dared not say anything to the rigid soldier until the Commander informed him, "I've sent a message to the nearby Earth Kingdom garrison to have them prepare for battle. They should be arriving at the city's eastern gates about the same time we arrive in its harbor."

The thief bowed his head in acknowledgement. He didn't know if he was supposed to respond to the Commander sharing this piece of information with him and he flinched when Commander Jee turned around and scrutinized him with a sharp, penetrating gaze. "You haven't betrayed your Fire Lord's trust when you delivered his message to the Eastern Fleet Command. Know that I do very much appreciate it, for His Majesty is not only the ruler of my nation, but also a dear friend."

Black Clock looked up in surprise and noticed the loyalty shine behind the Commander's stern gaze.

"You were one of his crew members aboard his ship, " he suddenly understood.

Something flickered in Commander Jee's eyes, then he nodded. "I was."

For a moment, Black Clock listened to the gentle humming of the engines working, a relieving sound that told him the ships were really steaming up to Senlin Harbor. That he had succeeded in his task.

"It was my honor, Commander," he then said quietly, "for I consider the Fire Lord a friend, too. I would never let down a fellow member of the Order."

This had the Commander lift his eyebrows for a moment.

"So, the Fire Lord has finally become a member of the Order of the White Lotus," the Commander noted thoughtfully and the thief simply nodded. Both men recognized the hand of the great Dragon of the West in this development.

Then the Commander reached into his pocket and took out a small bundle, wrapped in black cloth. The thief didn't have to look inside to know that wrapped in the cloth were the Fire Lord's signet ring and the two lotus clasps. His eyes widened when the Commander held the bundle out to him, an appreciative smile softening his stern features. "Perhaps you would want to return this to His Majesty when the time is right."

Then Commander Jee turned around, leaving behind a dumbfounded thief.

* * *

For the past few days, Aang had been watching silently as exhaustion took Toph into an iron hold. Color drained from her already pale skin and a dull sheen descended on her already glassy eyes while her perky character vanished into thin air. As her strength diminished by the day she resigned to doing chores around the house though she never had been one for domestic tasks. Her lack of energy simply kept her from doing anything more than help Iroh's manservant while they remained trapped in the small Upper Ring house.

A few times Aang had taken his glider for a flight across some of the other rings and at dinner informed Iroh and Toph about how the people in Ba Sing Se considered this early winter to be one of the most extraordinary in years. Although he helped clearing a few of them there wasn't much he could do. Ba Sing Se simply was too big a city and somehow he felt he was needed more at home. He became reluctant to leave Toph's side as guilt and worry grew inside of him at her diminishing appearance.

One morning Aang woke up to find Toph missing by his side. Rubbing his eyes he turned around and his gaze fell on the silhouette of the petite earthbender sitting in the windowsill, still dressed in her long white nightgown. Her knees were pulled up as she rested her head against the wall. Her eyes were closed.

"Toph?" Aang sat half right up and propped himself on one arm as he studied her for a moment. The weak sunlight cast a golden glow on the girl's face, hiding her ashen fatigue from view. It dawned to him how much she had changed over the past three years and his heart involuntarily skipped a beat. His tough friend who had once taken his hand asking him if friendship could last more than one lifetime, had become a woman. Her demeanor was still boyish, but somehow it had softened in the course of time. Aang realized that he had to keep himself from approaching her and wrapping his arms around her to feel her closeness. It was a new, but exciting feeling that almost completely replaced the fading longing for Katara's presence in his arms.

He rose from the futon and with inaudible steps approached the girl sitting in the window with inaudible steps. Quietly, he went to stand behind her.

"What is it?" He asked softly as he put his hand on her shoulder. The warmth of her skin which, despite its pale color was warmer than Katara's, reached his palm through the thin, embroidered batiste.

"I've had a nightmare," Toph replied flatly.

Aang sighed and pulled her back against his chest. She didn't object and as he inhaled the scent of panda lilies lingering in her silky strands. The scent suited her he thought vaguely as he closed his eyes and allowed himself to revel in it for a moment.

"I know… I…" he began, but Toph interrupted him.

"I went to see Uncle Iroh."

Toph felt Aang's body growing rigid against her back.

"Why?" He inquired sharply as if he was afraid to hear the answer. "I'm sure it was just a dream…"

Toph winced slightly at his rejecting words. "How can you be so sure? Unless…" her voice went into a whisper now, "… you were there, too."

Aang didn't react to this. Motionlessly, he stared out of the window as his face grew hot. "I think I was…" He finally said, sounding a bit uncomfortable at the memory.

But, Toph ignored his embarrassment. She had gotten passed that when talking with Iroh about it. "If you were, then you know we were in the Spirit World. That swamp like surroundings. I couldn't see, couldn't stand straight. It's the world of your dreams, your nightmares…"

"Stop it!" Aang stepped back anxiously and Toph slightly bowed her head. "You don't know if you were in the Spirit World, you've never been there. Your dream has nothing to do with mine."

"Actually, it does and she was, young Avatar," a calming voice spoke up from where Iroh pulled away the doorframe. He looked tired, but peaceful at the same time as if he had come to a decision which had put his nervousness of the past few days to rest.

"No! It can't be. I won't believe it." Aang's voice started to tremble as he hurled the words at the older man.

"Why won't you believe it, young Avatar? The Spirit World has been passing through messages in your dreams and now they've decided to approach Toph as well…"

Aang's eyes widened. "No," he whispered in dismay as he clenched his jaw. Iroh's words appealed to a feeling, a fear, that he had not been willing to acknowledge but had started to stir inside of him ever since Toph had started to suffer from these nightmares as well.

Toph had been silent until now, but now spoke up quietly. "Aang, we have to go into the Spirit World together."

These words woke a blind fury in Aang. His face contorted in anger and his normally gentle, grey eyes shot fire as he turned towards Iroh, who watched him with a worried gaze in his wrinkled eyes.

"You're manipulating her!" He bellowed. "This was your plan all along! Well, I've got news for you, Grandmaster… I won't let you do this. Toph is not going into the Spirit World and neither am I!"

With violent movements he pulled his shirt over his head and took his glider.

Iroh watched him silently and a sad look appeared in his eyes, but he didn't try to stop the furious Avatar.

"Why are you so opposed to Toph going into the Spirit World, Aang? What are you afraid of?" He finally asked as Aang jumped onto the windowsill. At that, he young man's grey eyes momentarily wandered towards the petite earthbender who stood in the middle of the room with a lost look on her face. His furious expressionchanged into one of pain. When he spoke his voice was hoarse and seemed to be filled with the pain of countless of Avatars before him.

"I'm afraid I will lose her. I'm afraid she will die."

The next moment, he had disappeared behind the snowy rooftops.

* * *

With the breaking of dawn Senlin Harbor came back to life and the silhouettes of people starting to hurry through the muddy mist covered streets replaced the tense silence that had descended upon the city since last evening. However, their gazes wandered restlessly over the rest of the crowd and rumors started to spread of a heavy fight which had taken place tonight. A spectacular fight between the town's leader's henchmen and two mysterious travelers, a man and a woman and master benders. It was rumored that one of the travelers was the much hated Fire Lord and that he was captured.

The large pirate ship docked at the longest pier however didn't show any signs of this though as all there was to see was the weak candle light flickering behind the small portholes of the captain's cabin. Only sometimes the light of the candles would intensify, then shrink back to its normal size, indicating that a firebender was on board the ship. But, that was all there was to see and soon the inhabitants of Senlin Harbor lost interest and returned to their every day life.

Uncertainty shone in Katara's eyes as she let her gaze wander from the smug leader of Senlin Harbor to her companion. His features had grown unreadable and his gaze icy. She had only been told by her friends about the group of Dai Li agents they had encountered during the failed invasion of Sozin on the Day of Black Sun, but she had never laid eyes on them. Apparently, this had been Azula's idea of collecting souvenirs.

Zuko however had constantly been in their presence since he'd chosen to join Azula in Ba Sing Se. He had immediately recognized the former Dai Li group leader's calculating gaze.

"I assume that I'm standing before the leader of Senlin Harbor?" Zuko established coldly in a silent demand and for a moment the man studied him thoughtfully before he condescended him with an answer.

"Being able to go to the Fire Nation has been a very interesting experience for me and my group of Dai Li agents. It was there that I learned a thing or two about sincere ruthlessness." He smiled curtly. "However, after the Fire Princess lost… control and banished us so thoughtlessly we came across this interesting town. We decided to stay and… bring our knowledge into the existing knowledge of staying out of the hands of the authorities."

Katara suddenly remembered the obscure people watching them as they entered the city. Dai Li methods, she realized in shock. The pirate leaders had known of their presence from the beginning. She chanced a sidelong glance at Zuko whose line of thoughts seemed to be the same. A little muscle twitched in his cheek as he understood that hadn't been recognizing all these suspicious looks following them from his earlier visit to Senlin Harbor, but that this scrutiny originated from the city of walls and secrets. He cursed himself for not seeing it before.

While the former Dai Li group leader allowed for the truth to sink in, he came down his platform and slowly described a circle around his captives until he paused before the Fire Lord. His height matched Zuko's and calculating green eyes met with challenging gold ones.

A sly expression appeared on his features as he eyed the Fire Lord coldly. "Tell me, how is your sister doing, these days?"

Zuko didn't answer but a furious expression momentarily passed over his features as he clenched his fists.

The leader of Senlin Harbor nodded once, satisfied with the effect of his words. "I thought so," he told him softly with a barely concealed threat lacing his voice.

Then the earthbender raised his baritone voice and said pleasantly, "Since we haven't been properly introduced before by the Fire Princess, I think introductions are in order. My name is Weiting, former Dai Li group leader and the present leader of Senlin Harbor. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty."

For a moment, Zuko only watched the earthbender before him and his eyes narrowed at the challenge underlying the display of civility. A challenge he didn't care to accept because even in his current captive state the Dail Li group leader still had to challenge the Fire Lord to try and gain the upper hand.

When Zuko didn't respond to him, the leader of Senlin Harbor drew closer and the expression on his features hardened.

"It would be the polite thing to do if His Majesty the Fire Lord were to properly introduce himself." He suggested softly, the menace now evident in his silky voice and for a split second his green eyes shot toward the Water Princess.

An involuntary shiver went down Katara's spine and her gaze barely noticeable passed over Zuko's set face. His features were pale in the frame of his messy black strands and his golden eyes seemed to freeze over when he noticed the earthbender's eyes travel toward her. Then he made a decision.

"My name is Zuko," he responded curtly.

The corner of Weiting's mouth pulled up smugly. "An introduction indeed, but barely one that does you justice, does it now, Lord Zuko of the Fire Nation, Keeper of the Dragon Throne and Squire to both the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes?"

"And isn't this what you've always wanted?" The Dai Li group leader leaned in to gauge Zuko's reaction, but the Fire Lord's face remained impassive but for a slight smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Perhaps."

His even answer caused a displeased frown to appear on the pirate leader's features but the expression was molded into another of his smug smiles when he turned his attention to Katara who looked back resignedly.

"Contrary to the Fire Lord we've never had the opportunity to properly introduce ourselves before. I presume you are one of those other Young War Heroes…" He let his voice trail away expectantly and the waterbender simply established, "I'm Katara."

She mirrored Zuko's icy tone, but her response had the opposite effect. The leader of Senlin Harbor seemed pleased.

"The Water Princess. So, the rumors were true after all…" He established and his eyes flickered between her and Zuko. "I must say… I was surprised to hear your little group took in the banished prince so easily back then… After all, he did betray you in the most horrible possible way."

His piercing gaze told Katara he wasn't speaking about Team Avatar anymore and she flinched slightly. She remembered the furious words she'd thrown at Zuko as they engaged in a bitter fight in the Crystal Caves of Ba Sing Se, their whips clashing into one another in grieving heart forms.

'I thought you'd changed.'

And then his bitter answer. 'I have changed.'

Next to her, Zuko took in a sharp breath and somehow her stomach clenched at the thought that he could still become upset because of this. Her gaze hardened.

"I doubt the former group leader of the Dai Li would make a good judge of the meaning of betrayal," she responded indifferently, but her clear voice held the hint of a warning to which Weiting narrowed his eyes. His gaze flashed to Zuko, whose lips twitched as he held his gaze fixed on a point before him.

The leader of Senlin Harbor stepped back.

"I see," he said slowly and turned to sit down on the raised platform. His calculating gaze momentarily passed over the imprisoned royalty standing motionless in the middle of the room.

He then made a small hand gesture and the travelers were forced down on their knees harshly by strong hands.

When Zuko and Katara looked up again, the leader of Senlin Harbor eyed them with a cold impatience that had Katara's skin crawl. He spoke up.

"I think the Southern Water Tribe will not be pleased to hear about the abduction of their Princess by the hands of the pirates of Senlin Harbor. I wonder how much Chief Hakoda would grudge the cost to get her back…"

Katara's stomach dropped. Her father would do anything, pay anything, if demanded and she knew the pirate leader knew it.

A lazy smile momentarily passed over the earthbender's features before he slightly leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he rested his chin on his laced hands.

"I've seen you two fight in the caves of Ba Sing Se and I know for a fact that you," he cast a sharp glance at Zuko, "defeated the Fire Princess not long thereafter. Three years have passed since then in which you have only gotten more powerful. The men who have chased you are mere pirates, easy to be defeated by two powerful benders such as yourselves."

A weak sound of protest rose from the corner of the room but the leader of Senlin Harbor stilled it with a mere hand gesture. "Therefore, I wasn't pleased to hear the prisoners were both put in the same cell, despite the number of guards standing outside," he added sharply and something dangerous for a moment flickered in his eyes.

The room immediately grew quiet and Zuko caught the Pirate Captain they had encountered the day before, shrinking back in his seat.

"So, tell me." Weiting slightly narrowed his eyes. "How is it possible that my men have caught you?"

Zuko noticed the suspicion smoldering behind Weiting's hard gaze as he awaited their answer. The expression told him that the former Dai Li agent wouldn't be easily convinced. Not having been able to think about this before, he tensed up and frenziedly searched for a plausible explanation until Katara's clear voice drew his attention.

"I made a mistake. Zuko had to come and help me out," she exaggerated the tiny flaw in their fight with the pirates. Zuko looked up sharply but she had bowed her head in remorse.

Zuko watched as Weiting let his gaze rest on her guilty expression and when she looked up again, he held her innocent, deep blue eyes, trying to plumb her honesty. Then an indulgent smile shortly appeared on his lips before he turned towards one of the guards standing next to him. "Are their traveling bags being searched?"

The bearded man, one of his eyes hidden behind a black piece of cloth, nodded.

"And have you found anything interesting?"

"Nothing."

For a fraction of a moment, Zuko could feel Katara shift beside him and he felt as puzzled as she did. He was fairly certain the pirates would have been interested in at least a few of their possessions, like his blue and white grinning mask.

He didn't notice when Katara's eyes were caught by Jun's. The impassive expression on the bounty hunter's face didn't change but for a slight wink in her direction and Katara struggled to keep her features in check when realization sunk in. Thankfully, the leader of Senlin Harbor was busy taking a scroll from his long sleeves.

The earthbender held it out to Zuko who looked at the parchment before he slowly rose from his kneeling position to take it from Weiting's hands. His hard gaze didn't avert from the group leader as he knelt down again, making no effort to open the scroll.

The leader of Senlin Harbor smiled curtly. "The waterbender's fault will cost you dearly, Your Majesty. In your hands you're holding a letter to a few Fire Nation nobles who will be very interested in hearing about your capture…"

Zuko slowly opened the scroll and briefly let his gaze run over the characters. A small list of names was listed. All of them known to him. He lowered the letter, his gaze almost bored.

The leader of Senlin Harbor smirked. "So you know of them. I'm not surprised. That won't change your situation, though. Before tomorrow night you will have signed that letter, Your Majesty and it will be sent to the Fire Nation."

"I refuse," Zuko replied serenely, but Weiting shook his head, not impressed by the Fire Lord's words.

"Of course you do. Except that I have a way to break your precious will… Men, if you would come forth please."

A wave of panic washed over Katara as she took a peek at Zuko kneeling motionlessly next to her. His features didn't show any reaction to what was happening. He didn't understand, he didn't know.

A memory inevitably pushed to the forefront of her mind, of another young man, with brown hair and dark eyes that sparkled with mischief, whose fate would soon become Zuko's. Her head started to spin as her mind was taken over by the sensation of a soft, green light, filtered by the thick foliages and the air filled with the scent of damp woodland soil and the voices of Freedom Fighters forever echoing through the chilly morning air. A painful jab shot through her heart as the image of lips pulling up in a crooked smile faded away and she saw Zuko's delicate features. Still impassive, still unafraid.

The blood pounded in her ears when she realized that she couldn't do anything to warn him as two silent earthbenders appeared from behind the curtains. They were dressed like the leader of Senlin Harbor. Dai Li agents, confirming her misgivings. A small, agonizing moan escaped her lips as she momentarily closed her eyes.

That earned her a thoughtful gaze from Weiting who let his cold, green gaze rest on the Water Princess before he said pleasantly, "Take them away and… convince His Majesty."

* * *

**A/N:** _Thank you for the many reviews! I'm so glad you all liked the previous chapter. I intend their journey to be the spiritual opposite to Zuko and Katara's quest. I agree with Insane Muse on the point of Toph having something spiritually about her, too. Since Toph more than once has been referred to in the series in relation to the Spirit World and to Aang in that respect, the concept of her going into the Spirit World perfectly fits into the story. In that respect I would want to note the following. To create this story, I make use of several theories which have been floating around the Zutarian fandom; some of them very much known, for example through Avidzkjo's Evidence for the Zutarian Dummy vids, some of them not quite as known. The chakra-theory is one of them as is the theory involving Toph's destiny and the Monkey King._

_The prompt for this week's chapter is __taken from the very first Zutara-week. _

_In this chapter the name of the Dai Li group leader is revealed. As you can read on Avatar Wikia, the name of the Ba Sing Se secret police force, has been taken from the leader of the first Kuomintang secret police leader: Dai Li. The Kuomintang was the conservative counterpart of the Chinese communist party. I took this information as an inspiration for the name of the group leader. Weiting was, in fact, the chosen name of Yuan Shikai, an imperial general who defected to the Kuomintang and after the fall of the Chinese Empire eventually crowned himself as the new emperor, but his title was abolished shortly thereafter. A few years later the communists took over power._

_Thanks for reading and update is next week!_


	29. Streetlights

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 29: Streetlights**

Music: Take That, Rule the World (Stardust)

Motionlessly the tall man stood in front of the fireplace, the green flames flickering across his pale, handsome features. A hint of wariness flashed through his green eyes, when a light rustling behind him broke the silence.  
"Any news?" He asked, without turning around.  
"The thief escaped. We haven't been able to find him."  
The man for a moment remained quiet, then said: "He's already left the city. Do you know in what direction he went?"  
"We've found footsteps leading to the forest behind the northern gate."  
"The Fire Navy," the man at the fire mumbled. "He's gone to warn the Fire Navy. We have to act quickly…"  
"My intelligence tells me the governor has left his capital," the quiet voice added. The man now looked up and turned around. "His palanquin has been seen on the way to Senlin Harbor."  
Thoughtfully the man standing by the fire turned around again. "Is he now…" he put his hands behind his back and bowed his head. "This could get interesting… You can go now."  
The informer bowed his head and turned to leave when the soft baritone voice called him back. "Oh, and if the Fire Lord gives you any trouble…"  
The other Dai Li agent nodded in understanding. "His weakness…?"  
"The Water Princess."

---

"Your Excellency, a messenger hawk has arrived with a letter."  
A pair of piercing green eyes looked up at the servant standing before the middle aged dignitary, his head bowed in respect. Slowly the man put down his teacup and out of habit stroked his thin, long beard and mustache. He hadn't expected the governor of the eastern Fire Nation province to answer this quickly. As he thought about it; that wouldn't even be possible. He'd send away the messenger only this afternoon. By ostrich-horse it would take the man at least a week to return.  
"Who is it from?" He finally asked before he stretched out his hand to the scroll, his eye catching the dark red ribbon around it.  
"His Royal Highness General Iroh of the Fire Nation."  
When the scroll hit the marble on the floor the sound of the seal breaking echoed through the grand halls.

With a set face the governor of the westernmost province in the Earth Kingdom stood on the veranda, watching out over the bare garden surrounding the government house, his straight posture betraying a soldier, despite the long green robes.  
In his hand he clenched the scroll, his knuckles turning white as the parchment slowly crumpled up. The letter from the person who had caused his doom so long ago. The Dragon of the West. Prince Iroh.  
As he closed his eyes, he heard the sound of war raging around him again, the screams of his elite team of earthbenders, the Terra Team, being slaughtered, the smell of their blood in his nose, the nauseating sound of the outer wall of Ba Sing Se exploding.  
Grand Secretary Long Feng had been relentlessly. The day the defeated general had to accept his new post as governor of the westernmost province, far from the capital city Ba Sing Se, the Council of Six had been shrunken back to the Council of Five.

The governor started when a soft voice spoke up from behind him and he felt a hand being put on his back.  
"What is it, dear?"  
The governor's wife quietly had approached him and now looked up at him with worry in her gentle eyes, her tasseled hairpiece gently swaying in the wind, as she pulled closer her embroidered silk cloak.  
"It's General Iroh, he requests my help…"  
"Oh, dear…" She put both her hands on his shoulders, squeezing them gently and he relaxed slightly.  
"Apparently his nephew, the Fire Lord is in Senlin Harbor and in great danger… You know of the trouble both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation are having with Senlin Harbor…"  
His wife nodded silently. In comparison to other governor's wives she was a lot more heavily guarded because of the threat Senlin Harbor constituted to the authorities.  
"The General fears that the Fire Lord will risk his life forcing a breakthrough in the battle against this den of robbers…"  
"The Fire Lord is a brave man," the governor's wife quietly noted, "especially since he's the ruler of his nation. He's one of the Young War Heroes, isn't he?"  
"He is…" her husband softly confirmed, then turned his gaze to the garden again, his unseeing eyes fixing on a bare cherry tree. "The General wrote he's stubborn and loyal to his nation…"  
For a moment the governor's wife thought he would stay silent, when he suddenly spoke again, his voice thick. He bowed his head.  
"And the General wrote he would never give up without a fight."

---

That night Aang didn't return to the small house in Ba Sing Se's Upper Ring as he didn't the night after that.  
Both nights Uncle Iroh came running through the corridor to find Toph sitting on her mattress, trembling as her unseeing eyes focused on a place in her unconsciousness, widened in fear.  
"Why won't he leave me alone… Aang where are you? Aang…" She whispered the second night he found her awake.  
"He will come back, my child," Uncle Iroh mumbled soothingly as he scooped the girl in his arms and carried her downstairs, leaving her in a chair to make her some tea. "I'm sure of it. Have courage, young Lady Bei Fong."  
As he cast a last gaze on her huddled form, wrapped in the blanket, so small in the large chair, before he went into the kitchen, Uncle Iroh saw her clench the Pai Sho rock tile Aang had carved her which she carried with her since Aang hadn't returned home. His heart wrenched.

The third morning after Aang had disappeared, Uncle Iroh left a note for his manservant to read to Toph and dressed warmly in his green velvet cloak and typical Earth Kingdom cone hat, both laced with fur.  
Stepping outside he started to melt his way through the snow, slowly progressing on the way to the train station. His breath made clouds of steam against the clear blue winter sky as he savored the feeling of the weak sun shining down on the city, knowing he would need the strength in the upcoming darker days, unknown to the hot Fire Nation but causing a firebender living in Ba Sing Se an increasing sleepy feeling he couldn't afford himself right now.  
A string of people followed in his wake, glad with the path he had created, as he reached the nearest train station.  
He then sat down near the window and with a thoughtful expression in his eyes watched the snowy surroundings passing by, as the train slowly gained speed and headed for the Middle Ring.

The sun already was setting when the older man arrived at a large square where two gigantic lion-dragons guarded the richly ornamented gate, the elegant bowed roof resting on heavy iron doors decorated with hundreds of golden nails. Two carved and brilliantly painted dragon heads stuck out of two of the thick green pillars, each carrying an elegant lantern in their muzzles.  
Through the partially opened gate an immense square leading to a palace like building could be seen.  
Uncle Iroh had reached his destination.  
The University of Ba Sing Se.

As Uncle Iroh with measured steps entered the empty square, he cast a quick glance on the large pond, famous for its Koi fish, surrounded by now bare weeping willows and short, brownish grass.  
During summer a lot of students could be found around this pond, lying on the grass as they were surrounded by books and friends. Or they would lean against the richly ornamented huabiao, littered all over the university grounds, but now the only students Uncle Iroh saw hastened through the icy cold with their heads ducked into the collars of their coats, their hands stiff and blue from holding their books in the freezing air.  
Iroh passed along the gigantic statue of the legendary Earth King, a forefather of the present Earth King, who had established the University , then took a deep breath before he started to climb the enormous stairs to the majestic building.  
When he finally had arrived at the double doors of the university, Iroh for a moment turned around and looked down on the many steps beneath him. Each time he climbed those stairs it became harder and harder.

Ba Sing Se University, as a center of knowledge, was an institution unparalleled in the world. In both the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes advanced sciences could only be studied within small schools surrounding one master. Therefore, the temple of wisdom, as the university was also called, attracted students from all over the world, drawn to the many sciences and famous professors assembled in one place. A good place for his grandchildren, Zuko's future heirs to the throne, to conclude their education…  
The White Lotus Society had always been a warm supporter of the university, which brought together people of very different backgrounds, thus creating a better understanding of the other while passing through knowledge. And the founding Earth King, whom many of the scholars interested in the White Lotus Society suspected of having been a member of the Order too, had granted the Society with their own section in the library.  
"Good afternoon, Grandmaster, it's good to see you again." Immediately a doorkeeper, dressed in sandy green, approached him, bowing for the older man, when Iroh entered the university and took off his hat.  
"It's good to be back, Yu," Uncle Iroh said warmly and looked around. The hall hadn't changed since the last time he had visited the university. The University still savored the drawings of a student's life a student many hundreds of years ago during a drunk night had sketched on the few white places on the walls left. A short but unique part in a person's life. Iroh took off his hat and wiped the snow from his cloak. "I need to spend some time in the Order's section of the library."  
"Of course, Grandmaster. If you would please follow me?"

It took them fifteen minutes to arrive at the library, which was located in a wing farthest from where the classrooms were. The doorkeeper led Iroh through the main section, richly decorated with a painted and carved wooden ceiling, then halted in a dimly lit corner of the gigantic library, dusty and a bit forgotten where a wrought iron railing would separate the bookcases behind it from the rest of the library. The doorkeeper took out an old, curly key decorated with the symbol of the white lotus and unlocked the fence, then stepped back.

Iroh nodded gratefully when the doorkeeper left him and for a moment stood still in the poky space, looking at the high shelves surrounding him. They were loaded with books, representing thousands of years of history of the Order. Where to start?  
Stepping to the nearest bookcase, he slowly let his eyes scan the backs of the books, closely examining the titles. He hoped for some title, some book standing out to him as a starting point.  
His gaze wandered from 'Learn to outbalance your elements through the seven chakras', and 'Grandmasters of the last four centuries,' which seemed particularly boring, to 'The White Lotus, how to keep a flower from the Spirit World alive in this world, a gardener's view.'

Half an hour later he had finished only one bookcase and stroked his grey beard. This wasn't working. Stepping back, Uncle Iroh looked around again, from the many crafty ornamented bookcases to the small window, the last rays of the sun casting a light on the dusty table underneath it. Behind him, the gigantic chandeliers were being lit, casting a rich golden light across the entire library. A beam of light fell on a corner of the section which until then had remained hidden in the darkness.

Uncle Iroh narrowed his eyes and with a squealing sound shoved back the table and kneeled down by a few sagged shelves hid around the corner, the ragged books resting on them in untidy piles.  
His gaze fell on a small, leather book held together by cotton strings. A torn piece of paper stuck out of the yellowed parchment, revealing a drawing of white lotus opened wide, carrying a flame and a wave in its heart.  
Iroh's eyes widened and he stretched out his hand, but immediately pulled back, just in time to avoid being bitten by the enormous spider-scorpion which had made a web between the ragged little book and a loose pile of parchment.  
As the spider-scorpion disappeared into a crack of the wall, Iroh hesitantly reached out again and pulled out the book, tearing up the web so that hundreds of miniscule spider-scorpions suddenly swarmed over the shelve.

Uncle Iroh carefully opened the book and scanned the closely written pages. He narrowed his eyes. Quickening his movements he leafed through the pages, containing references to the story of Omashu, the coming together of two opposite elements in the decisive season of the airbending Avatar.

Uncle Iroh had read one of the first written copies of the prophecy himself when the white lotus was still in Omashu, but his eyes slowly widened in shock as he started to realize that this well-thumbed book wasn't a copy but the ancient earthbending Grandmaster's original notes. Original notes which weren't supposed to be existing.  
He looked down on the old yellowed pages.  
Turning around the book, he let the pages run through his fingers to end up at the last page of the book, a description of the white lotus carrying fire and water in its heart. Then Iroh's eye fell on a small paragraph underneath the awkward drawing and sharply took in his breath. The book didn't end with the picture of the white lotus, as the copies had. A new paragraph was started. With pounding heart Iroh turned around the page, only to see the red cover appear and the evidence of paper being ripped out of the book forcefully.  
Quickly he turned back the page and let his gaze run across the title. 'On the identity of the chosen ones and warnings concerning the Avatar Cycle.'  
Iroh lowered the book and stared at the dark wooden bookcase. How could it be the Order didn't know about the presence of this book in their library? Wasn't the library categorized into detail? And how was it that the Grandmaster wasn't informed about it?

It was then that Uncle Iroh suddenly realized spider-scorpions only appeared in the Wan Shi Tong desert.  
"This was one of Professor Zei's last discoveries before the Wan Shi Tong desert took him for good," a voice suddenly spoke up and Iroh jerked up his head, seeing a tall man dressed in sandy green robes lean against the door, the green ribbon of his Earth Kingdom topknot embroidered with a golden lion-dragon indicating him as a professor of Ba Sing Se University. A long moustache framed his thin lips.  
As soon as he had Iroh's attention, he straightened himself and took a step inside the room. "After he had found the notebook, he decided to hide it at the place where one day the Grandmaster himself would be looking for information on the danger threatening the survival of the Order. But not before he ripped out the last few pages…"  
For a moment he silently looked down on the aging Grandmaster, his face unreadable, before a bright smile softened his stern features and he stretched out his hand. "Grandmaster Iroh."  
Gratefully Iroh took the extended hand and shot up straight. "Professor He, it's been too long."

Both men smiled, then looked down on the book in Iroh's hands. "Why would he have done that?"  
"The Fire Nation," the professor explained curtly, as his piercing, light brown eyes set in pale features, stayed to rest on the firebending Grandmaster of the Order. "It reveals a part of the future, which needed to remain hidden, until the prophecy has been fulfilled." He was silent for a moment, then said quietly: "The expectation is that not everyone in the Fire Nation would be glad with a waterbending Fire Lady…"  
"The identity of the chosen ones," Uncle Iroh whispered in shock and the professor nodded. Iroh then looked down on the chapter title again and following his gaze, the professor said: "Professor Zei has told me about the part revealing the identity of the chosen ones, but he wouldn't tell me about the other part, concerning the endangered Avatar Cycle."  
Uncle Iroh sighed and the professor with a guarded expression studied the Grandmaster. "You have a hunch, don't you?"  
The older man nodded wearily. "I do, but I must know for sure. I would very much appreciate it if you could help me finding the missing pages."

---

With pounding heart Katara followed the former Dai Li agent bringing them to the cells in the lowest part of the ship, her feet dragging as her head bowed in distress. A constant stream of memories marched through her thoughts, always returning to a cold voice saying: 'Jet, the Earth King invites you to Lake Laogai…'  
Her panic rose as they almost reached the cell Zuko and she had spend the night in and the agent walking behind her with a jingling sound pulled out a bunch of keys. In a few minutes they would leave her behind in the cell, locked away and they would take Zuko for interrogation. And he still didn't know what was before him.  
She swallowed heavily and took in a raspy breath as her eyes fixed on the cell door. She had to warn him, somehow. Vaguely she noticed the Dai Li agent behind her passing through the keys to his colleague.  
Suddenly Katara felt a warm hand inconspicuously fold around her own, gently squeezing her fingers as her travelling partner stood halted in front of the door. Startled, she looked up to see Zuko's stare fixed on the Dai Li agents at the door, but when he felt her gaze on him he slightly turned his head and pulled up the corner of his mouth, his gaze barely noticeable softening. He wanted to comfort her, having felt her unrest.

Katara's eyes widened as she saw the possibility and didn't hesitate. Before Zuko realized what happened and the Dai Li agents could prevent it, she had thrown her arms around him and embraced him tightly, lamenting as she let her hands wander across his face, then lacing her fingers through the black strands of his hair.  
For a moment she buried her head in the crook of his neck, then wailed desperately: "Oh, no, don't take him away. I know I have made mistake. Forgive me, Zuko. What are you going to do with him? Where are you taking him? Please, don't…"  
"Katara…" Zuko finally had regained his sense of speech, as looked down on her gleaming curls, his gaze wary. Now his initial shock had subsided he savored the feeling of holding the waterbender in his arms, although he didn't understand her unexpected actions.  
But Katara didn't let him finish. She took his face in his hands, placing feather light kisses on his skin as she pulled him in, her lips reaching his ear.  
"Please don't take him… be careful…" She cried, then suddenly whispered. Zuko's eyes widened. "What are you going to do with him… don't let them brainwash you…" Zuko's stomach dropped. How did she…  
"That's enough," one of the agents said.  
Then he felt her breath leave his ear and her hands gripping his hair tightly as she suddenly kissed him desperately. The last thing Zuko heard her whisper against his lips, before she was pulled from his arms, was: "… like Jet."

Katara had pulled up her knees, resting her chin on them as she stared into the darkness surrounding her. Her thoughts kept circling around the look in his eyes.  
She hadn't meant to say what she had said last. It wouldn't be of importance to him. He didn't know exactly what had happened to Jet in Ba Sing Se. But her emotions had taken over as soon as she had plunged herself in his arms, pleading with the Dai Li agents to distract them from the warning she gave him. And it had slipped passed her lips.  
Zuko had known Jet, she had come to know after the play on Ember Island. But when she'd asked him how he had met with the Freedom Fighter, Zuko only had mumbled: "On the way to Ba Sing Se."  
Maybe he'd backed away from the hostile tone in her voice, but somehow she had been terrified of him knowing more about her confused feelings for Jet. Especially after the play. He even had caught her staring at him, pondering over the remarkable similarity in which the two boys thought, fought and acted, before she'd blushed and forced herself not to think about it anymore.

She groaned softly and let her head fall on her knees. It had never become clear how exactly Jet had been brainwashed by the Dai Li, all she had known was that the Freedom Fighter had been brainwashed and a small, comforting part of her knew she could undo it. As long as she had enough bending water. But she also remembered that, although she had given back Jet his memories, he still had responded to that mysterious command Long Feng had given him.  
She tried not to think of the things they were doing to Zuko's memories right now. How much would they try to destroy? Would he still remember her if they brought him back?  
The thought sent icy shivers down her spine and she knew that part of her had flown into his arms out of fear of losing him, making her pleads with the Dai Li agents to distract them becoming frightening real.  
She squeezed her eyes shut, screaming inwardly, as tears suddenly started to stream down her cheeks, exhaustion finally crumbling down the walls around the cautiously locked away feelings. Burying her head in her arms, Katara cried soundlessly.  
Not too long ago, in a dirty lodging she had told Zuko not to ignore the facts any longer concerning his mother… Now, as worry about his safety mixed with the excitement she felt as she thought back to his lips touching hers in a kiss, she had to acknowledge how much those words applied to herself too.  
She remembered the moment which now seemed so long ago, when Zuko hesitantly had told her about the fragments of a certain future the white lotus had showed him. And she had been reluctantly to tell him so, but she had seen the fragments too, savoring them in her heart ever since.

Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw herself sitting behind a wall of fire, looking at shadows of people moving in front of it and as she looked down, she saw her hand framed by a blood red sleeve, being hold tightly by a much larger, paler one, the golden signet ring gleaming in the light of the fire. The next moment she entered what appeared to be a hospital and people she recognized as Fire Nation healers bowed to her, showing her the way to patients who sat up straight in their beds, an excited and revering look in their eyes as they looked at her… Then she was sitting on a bench near the turtle duck pond Zuko had showed her after the ending of the war, giving pieces of bread to a small boy with ink black hair in a topknot decorated with a golden flame, who threw the pieces into the water. He then turned around smiling excitedly for her to see glistening, golden eyes, large like hers, set in a tan face.  
But the most special moment was the one when she and Zuko found themselves sitting on an empty beach, simply looking at the moon rising as the sun had not yet set and she put her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her.  
A possible future, a future that could become true if only she…

A sudden click of the key made her jerk up her head, but it wasn't Zuko entering the cell. Instead one of the Dai Li agents kneeled down to unlock the shackles, as she with a dirty sleeve wiped the tears from her face, smudging her cheeks. "Get up. You're going to visit the Fire Lord."

Zuko bowed his head in exhaustion, when the Dai Li agents finally took a step back, leaving him alone for a moment. Very soon after the agents had left Katara in her cell, he had found what she'd meant with brainwashing.  
At first all he could do was to think about the feeling of her arms around him, the soft touch of her lips caressing his face and the demanding kiss she'd pressed on his lips. He walked on clouds as he followed the Dai Li agents, but crashed down from his cloud as soon as he was tied into a chair, being faced with about ten rocks starting to flow around his head. And he'd remembered her last whisper.  
'Like Jet.'  
He was sure he'd heard it right. Jet. As in… Jet the Freedom Fighter. Why had she remembered the boy at this point?

For the first time in two years he started to wonder how deep exactly her feelings had been for the obsessed boy. This boy he had met on the refugee boat to Ba Sing Se, chastened by all that had happened to him before, like Jet.  
Jet had known Katara. Zuko had known it since the Ember Island play. The play had stated that Katara had been attracted to the Freedom Fighter and although Katara had reacted very tense on him knowing about Jet, he never had taken that too seriously. After all, the play had also stated she had been attracted to him too, which at that point could not have been possible...  
It confused him though. During the short boat trip, he had felt a bond with the Freedom Fighter akin to a brotherly bond. Not the same as with Aang, whom he considered as a younger brother who needed his protection, but a certain recognition in their goals, their stubborness and changes for the good under influence of the same girl...

As he was pushed into a chair and tied by his wrists and ankles Zuko wondered what it could mean if Katara's affections truly had lied with Jet first. Could it be she liked his kind of boys and could it be that that had been the reason she didn't want him to know too much about Jet...?  
A light was being lit and one of the earthbenders came to stand in front of him. He smirked smugly.  
Zuko remembered the moment he had ever seen the Freedom Fighter, taken away by the Dai Li and closed his eyes.  
"Well, Your Majesty. I think it's time you'd told us about the reason you've come to Senlin Harbor."

As soon as the light was being lit Zuko took a deep breath and, infinitely grateful for Katara's warning, rose his inner fire, the flames mirroring the light of the candle in the lamp. His gaze turned empty. He had gone into a state of meditation.  
The light didn't work. It spun around and around as the Dai Li agent who was keeping eye contact with him, grew more frustrated with every minute Zuko stayed lucid.  
It took quite some control, but being the powerful firebender he was, he could prevent himself from becoming hypnotized by the light. Endlessly the light circled around him, along the circle of rocks floating in the air and Zuko stayed silent.  
Though, the longer the interrogation took, the more he felt his strength draining from him. He had to scrape all of the control of his firebending to withstand the force coming from the light circling around him. But he still didn't answer the questions.  
After a while, Zuko noticed that the questions changed into statements, returning every time the light turned in front of him again.  
"When the leader welcomes you to Senlin Harbor you will sign the letter," the interrogator softly said, looking at him sharply, but Zuko's pupils didn't dilate.  
Then the two agents suddenly stepped back and Zuko vaguely noticed one leaving the room as he dropped his head in exasperation, grateful for the pause in the interrogation to replenish his strength. Up until now he had managed to remain conscious, keeping hypnosis at distance. And he knew he was beating the Dai Li's proven most important instrument to gain power over people.

Zuko was jolted back to reality when a door opened but when he looked up immediately the hypnotizing light blinded his sight as it was put in front of him. In a reflex he squeezed his eyes shut.  
"Since the Fire Lord is having some trouble understanding the meaning of interrogation, maybe this will help…"  
Suddenly the light disappeared and Zuko opened his eyes to widen them in shock as he shot up straight. The second Dai Li agent had come back, but not alone. When the agent took a step forward, Zuko saw a slender figure being dragged along, a terrified expression in her eyes as the stone glove around her neck tightened its hold. Katara.  
Her face seemed stained and puffy. Had she cried? Had they made her cry?  
Zuko shot up furiously, trying to fight the shackles binding him to the chair. "No, not Katara! Let her go!" He roared, completely letting go of his concentration. He didn't notice the light turning to place again, as he was only looking at Katara, at the beads of sweat running across her forehead, her face contorted in pain.  
"Easy, Your Majesty," one of the Dai Li agents said pleasantly, then shot a warning gaze at his companion. "Now!"  
Two other stone gloves were shot in Zuko's direction, pinning him to the chair as the light started to turn around again.  
In horror Katara saw him freeze in his movements, a surprised expression on his face slowly replacing the anger as his eyes started to follow the light.  
"No," she sighed softly and she closed her eyes as a lonely tear ran down her cheek.  
"Now, where were we…" the Dai Li agent said softly, a smug smile curling up the corners of his mouth.

---

"Well, well, Your Majesty, it seems as though you have made the wise decision after all."  
The leader of Senlin Harbor gestured Zuko and Katara to sit down, which Zuko did almost automatically, a neutral expression on his face, but the veiled gaze showing only a shadow of the person the face belonged to.  
Katara stole a quick glance at him, before she sat down as well and bowed her head, fighting back the urge to cry out in pain. She was alone. Alone on a pirate ship surrounded by hostile people trying to break her and Zuko, having already hypnotized him.  
As she felt a few more tears drip onto her hands lying in her lap folded, she averted her gaze from the painful sight of her friend sitting next to her without actually being there and noticed the many people present in the captain's cabin, their eyes focused on the two travelers as they mumbled mocking remarks. A look through the window told her it was dark outside again.

Weiting again pulled out the letter to the disloyal Fire Nation nobility, and held it out to the Fire Lord, who robotically took it.  
The leader of Senlin Harbor smiled. "Since we started on the wrong foot, I thought it would be a good thing to welcome His Majesty to Senlin Harbor again…"  
"I am honored," Zuko replied, his husky voice distant as if it didn't belong to him anymore.  
"Zuko, no," Katara whispered helplessly as he lay the letter in front of him and took the brush one of the Dai Li agents gave him. For a moment he hesitated, then put the brush onto the parchment and with forceful movements wrote down his name.  
Katara closed her eyes as the next moment the letter was being pulled out of his grasp and brought to a now triumphant smiling leader. He opened the scroll and let his gaze wander downwards. But the smug smile suddenly fell and he looked up at Zuko with a brooding gaze. The Fire Lord looked back with an impassive gaze as the leader turned around the letter to confront Zuko with it.  
All of the people present bowed forward to see. The signature in a powerful handwriting. Sū Kè. Resurrected rule.  
For a moment, a dangerous glint flickered in Zuko's eyes and the corners of his mouth trembled, before he bowed his head and his face became a mask again.

A nervous mumbling went through the crowd as Weiting displeased narrowed his eyes. The silent warning coming from the mere writing of the Fire Lord's name didn't go by him unnoticed. Although he judged the Fire Lord to be under hypnosis completely, he heard the unrest around him and with a sharp gesture motioned his agents for them to take away the Fire Lord and the Water Princess as he rolled up the scroll.  
This letter had to be send away immediately.

It was already late at night when a messenger hawk with a light rustling sound spread his wings and disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind a city full of smugglers and pirates as he headed for the Fire Nation.

The streetlights had already extinguished when Zuko and Katara were led across the gang-board onto the quay. The silent Dai Li agents with floating steps headed for a large house near the quay, the green color of the plaster-work visible even in the night sky.  
The house of the leader of Senlin Harbor, no doubt with safer prisons than aboard the pirate ship. Katara took in the fresh air, as she shuffled next to Zuko, who seemed to notice he wasn't aboard the ship anymore, although it didn't quite reach him, as his eyes wandered across the decrepit houses.  
She averted her gaze to the dead street lanterns. The events of the past few hours had numbed her and she didn't cry anymore, but the raw, painful feeling remained, making it hard to breath.

"It's sad isn't it, streetlights not being lit when it's still dark," a voice softly spoke up next to her.  
Shocked Katara turned around and her eyes widened when Zuko had turned himself towards her, his gaze absent-mindedly averting to the dark street lanterns. "Would it make you feel better when they were lit?"  
Katara couldn't react, baffled by his quiet words after hours of silence and Zuko smiled curtly. "I already thought so."  
He stood still and before the Dai Li agents realized what had happened, Zuko had taken a stance and suddenly dozens of small flames shot from both his hands and with a skill betraying he had done so before, illuminated the lanterns.  
Paralyzed Katara watched as suddenly a golden light spread its soft beams across the street, her throat becoming thick as she felt a warm hand carefully take hers.  
"Better?" He asked quietly and as Katara looked up she saw a glimpse of the warm expression she had missed so desperately.  
She nodded mutely, the emotion now burning in her throat silencing her, as the Dai Li agents started to push her in the back.  
"Better," she whispered.

---

**A/N:** _Here's the 29th chapter of Fall of the White Lotus already. I would like to thank all of you who have reviewed previous chapter(s). I'm so glad you liked it. I also noticed there was some confusion about Katara remembering Jet and the way I executed that, with letting his memory merge with Zuko sitting next to her, so I changed a few words and I think it's more clear now. _

_In this week's chapter things are really starting to move now. Zuko and Katara are now brought ashore and the governor has left his city. I think you all know who the governor is? And oh my, Zuko has signed the letter and the messenger hawk is on its way to the Fire Nation now. Will Commander Jee be in time to prevent the bird from reaching the disloyal nobles? And where has Aang gone to?_

_For describing Ba Sing Se University I let myself be inspired by Peking University in Beijing. In the description I also included a few references to my own university. Peking University has been established in 1898, so the institution isn't very old for a university, but it's much older if you take into account the traditional schools of advanced education preceding the university. The huabiao I wrote about are ornamented pillars, standing all over the Peking University's grounds. I'm very glad I could include Ba Sing Se University._

_And why, oh why do I torture myself by creating a spider-scorpion? I'm so very afraid of those kind of animals and yet I let Uncle Iroh be swarmed with the little creatures. The ending of course refers to Zuko's Tale in Tales of Ba Sing Se, where he went out on a date with Jin. It's no random reference. Referring to the potential love interests of both Zuko and Katara through the show are in line with where I'm going with this. However, I did change something. In Zuko's Tale he lit the streetlights by illuminating them one by one. I figured, since he has improved on his firebending immensely since then, he now would be able to illuminate them all at once._

_The music in this week's chapter is from Stardust (love that movie!) and by Take That. The song is soaked with Zutara and I see the lyrics as foreshadowing for the ending of my story, lol. My bf thought I would become a Take That fangirl after all at the age of 26, but that won't be happening. This song is way better than their 90's boyband songs, though, when I had the age to become a Take That fangirl._

_Thanks very much for reading and update is next week!_


	30. Pomegranate

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 30: Pomegranate**

Music: Nena ft. Kim Wilde, Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime

With a harsh thud which made Katara cringe, the door to the small cell slammed closed. Only a small ray of light, coming from the streetlights Zuko had lit, peeked through a tiny hole in the wall near the ceiling, providing prisoners with fresh air.  
Katara's eyes passed over the rough walls and the fresh heap of straw in the corner. This is where she and Zuko had to await their fate.  
At least the leader of Senlin Harbor cares for his prisoners, she thought cynically as her gaze lingered on the little light coming in, the small beam setting her in a golden glow, as she heaved up her face, remembering the moment dozens of small bolts of fire had flown into the dead lanterns and his tender smile.  
Somehow she found it calming to know that the person standing next to her still had some of his personality left and had reminded her of it by lighting the streetlights for her. If only she had her bending water with her… The house was well build and the walls dry and as soon as she had entered the cell she'd noticed there wasn't a drop of water to be found inside the cell.

"Perfect," a husky voice suddenly spoke up satisfied from behind her and Katara spun around to see Zuko scanning his surroundings, before capturing her gaze with his slanted golden eyes, glistening very bright and very attentive.  
"Zuko?"' She hesitantly asked as bewilderment took possession of her blue eyes. Zuko for a moment silently watched her standing rooted to her spot, the light casting a golden glow on her dark brown hair, bronzing her delicate, tan skin and for a moment he imagined her wearing stately red robes to accompany the gold of her skin, bringing out the blue of her eyes. She would be so beautiful.  
"Gold looks good on you," he said softly, but she stepped back and her silhouette, which had only just seemed to glow, was covered by the somber grey of near darkness. Only the confusion, worry and a hint of anger shone from her bright eyes.

"I wasn't hypnotized, I never have been," he stated matter-of-factly, when he realized she wasn't going to react before he'd said anything. "Although they tried to bring me out of my concentration by confronting me with you…" His gaze hardened. "That's when I decided to play along."  
"But… but how…" Katara stammered.  
Zuko ran a hand through his dull hair, framing his weary features. "I'm a firebender so I could withstand the light circling around me, but I can also dilate my pupils at will. It has something to do with my inner fire."  
Katara seemed to think that over, then looked at the ground, dejectedly. "But now the letter has been send…"  
"Which isn't as important as your safety…" he noted grimly.  
Katara looked up, touched and confused. "But you couldn't…"  
"No, I couldn't," Zuko interrupted her regretfully. "You too I had to leave under the impression I was hypnotized, to make it more believable… I was so afraid they would do something to you. They had your neck in one of those gloves. One little movement and your neck would have snapped."

For a moment they only watched each other silently, then Zuko added softly: "I'm sorry. I saw your shock and I hoped… that lighting the streetlights… would somehow…"  
"It did," Katara whispered, as she tried to push aside the horrible image of Zuko's empty gaze onboard the pirate ship. She closed her eyes and frowned dangerously, as her anger with him melted away, only to open them in astonishment when she suddenly felt a warm hand brush her cheek.  
"Thank you for warning me, it gave me the chance to anticipate the hypnosis and fight it." A smoldering fire hid behind his serious expression.  
Katara looked away hastily, her face coloring bright red at the memory as her mouth suddenly run dry. "I… I couldn't think of another way to…"  
The corners of his mouth pulled up in a small, amused smile. "You sure surprised me there."

He hadn't minded at all, but Katara now bowed her head as she clenched her fists. She seemed torn, Zuko noticed as a searing sadness wrenched his heart and he pulled back his hand.  
But then she suddenly reached up and held his hand in place, closing her eyes as she leaned into the touch.  
Zuko froze and his breath caught as Katara looked up at him, lifting his hand from her cheek, then brought it to her mouth, pressing a silent kiss on his palm. And as his blood started to pound in his ears, Zuko watched in amazement as the familiar expression of guilt and sadness disappeared to reveal a warm and loving passion burning behind the cool color of her gaze. The gaze she had seen him casting at her since long, the gaze he had dreamed of her casting at him, but silently expected that it would never happen. And now…  
His heart stopped.

"Now…" he heard Katara's voice calling softly from far outside him, an echo from another world than his in which at the moment only her deep blue eyes existed, "I really want to know what's so perfect about this cell."

---

"This is hopeless," Professor He called from behind a large pile of paper, thrown upon an ancient chest in an untidy heap. He and Uncle Iroh had started to search Professor Zei's old office, after they had forced their way in. The room had been an explosion of relics, papers, ancient scrolls, artifacts and more scrolls sorted in an inapprehensible order.  
For a moment Uncle Iroh had only stood still and watched, his eyes wide in astonishment. "This office is worse than my living room."  
Professor He had laughed shortly. "Professor Zei was an archeologist and a fond collector of historical artifacts."  
"It shows," was Iroh's opinion.  
"I on the other hand, being a historian," Professor He groaned as he pushed away a large statue of a laughing spirit, "prefer the reading material."

Hours had been passing by since then and the messy office now looked like a bomb had exploded in there.  
Uncle Iroh sighed and straightened his hurting back. "I know. I think we can safely say that whenever Professor Zei took those pages out of the book, he didn't hide them in his office."  
He went to sit down at the huge desk in the middle of the large room and rested his head on his hands. "Do you know of any other place where he could have hide the pages? His house for instance?"  
Professor He shook his head. "Professor Zei didn't have a house in Ba Sing Se. He spent so much time on field expeditions he preferred to sleep at the professors' dorms the few times he actually was in Ba Sing Se."  
Uncle Iroh nodded absent-mindedly, then a sharp gleam suddenly appeared in his dulled eyes. His hands clenched in his hair.  
"When I took the book from the shelve a spider-scorpion shot from between the other books. She had made a nest for her offspring. A very unusual place for a spider-scorpion to appear."  
He looked up, a piercing gaze in his eyes. "What if the pages were hidden near where Professor Zei has found the book? The place where this creature naturally lives."  
Professor Zei audibly sucked in his breath. "The Wan Shi Tong desert."

---

A brilliant smile lit up Zuko's face as he again let his eyes wander through the dreary space. "It's not the cell that is so perfect. It's the fact we're in Weiting's house and with some time on our hands to sneak around somewhat."  
Katara turned around and mumbled: "If we get out of this cell, that is."  
She followed his gaze, resting her eyes on the cracks in the plastered ceiling when she suddenly heard Zuko sharply suck in his breath, then said on a strange voice: "That will be the easy part."  
Stunned she spun around to see him kneeled down next to the pile of straw and with careful hands wiped away the top layer to reveal a blue and white grinning mask lying upon two very familiar bags, neatly hidden underneath the straw. Slowly Zuko took up the mask and reached out to something he had seen shining through the empty holes for the eyes. A key.  
Immediately Katara kneeled down next to him. "Our stuff." She opened one of the bags. "It's all there. And the key… But how…"  
"Does it matter?"  
Their eyes met and sparkled in agreement.

Two shadows swiftly moved through the minimally furnished house, dimly lit by hidden lights coloring the house in a mysterious green hues.  
The larger one of the two clearly was the most experienced in sneaking around, his agile movements inconspicuous as he moved from wall to wall, then blended in the shadows as he stopped. He was followed by the smaller shadow, swift and effortlessly like water.  
Almost soundlessly they took a broad staircase to where the first floor in the house was located, then the man in front suddenly lifted his hand, retreating in the shadows of the last corner, as the woman shot behind his back immediately. Motionlessly they waited until two Dai Li agents had passed them, only inches from touching the dark clad figures in the shadows.  
Then the man bowed forward and let his fiery, golden gaze wander across the now empty corridor, before he took the woman's hand and squeezed it for a moment.

The next moment they halted before a large, ancient door, which was craftily ornamented with pomegranates and pomegranate flowers. A door fit for a monastery and clearly stolen to be placed into this house.  
"Taku," both man and woman whispered simultaneously and they looked at each other expectantly. The riches of the former mighty seaport town had been symbolized by a pomegranate and its bright red flower. The fruit stood for wealth, concentrated life force and fertility. And death, a meaning which had been embedded in the thoughts of the people whenever they thought about the grand city which now had turned to legend. A city they were still heading for and were now painfully remembered to it. They had to stay alive to find the Spirit Princess, to save the White Lotus Society and the world.  
The woman momentarily let her hand stroke the carvings on the door, softened through the ages and the man looked down on her in regret.  
"We will be on our way to Taku very soon now," he promised quietly, then slowly pushed down the handle.  
The door majestically swung open. They had reached the private chambers of Senlin Harbor's feared leader.

Only a gigantic desk and a large fire place dominated the room they entered and for a moment they stood still, not knowing where to begin.  
Then Zuko's eye fell on the countless of small drawers in the desk and motioned Katara to follow him. For half an hour they searched through neatly organized papers and scrolls, finding nothing which could be helpful in their plans to cause Senlin Harbor's downfall.  
At last Katara pulled open the last drawer and thought she heard something click inside the desk. Zuko looked up when he felt her hand placed on his arm, as she reached inside the desk with her other arm, an excited expression on her face. "A secret drawer," she whispered. At that moment she pulled open the drawer hiding behind the visible one and several scrolls fell onto the ground. As Zuko picked one up, he sucked in his breath. "These are maps. Maps of Senlin Harbor."

He hastily, eagerly picked up a few scrolls and let his eyes wander over the difficult, technical drawings. "And with the locations of several hiding places."  
He looked up, his eyes sparkling in excitement. This was what they were looking for. With these maps, Senlin Harbor could finally be defeated.  
Suddenly, spontaneously, Zuko leaned in and gave Katara a quick peck on the lips. She had felt pleased with herself, but now she turned bright red and her breath caught. But Zuko didn't notice as he carefully put the scrolls in the bag he'd slung over his back. He was still wearing one of his rare smiles.

"I have to get these to Commander Jee, somehow," Zuko mumbled as he headed for the door and motioned for Katara to follow him, then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. His eye had fallen on the gigantic fire place and he slowly turned around. A flash of a memory had flickered in his mind, then disappeared again. A memory of the half sleeping condition in which the white lotus had shown him parts of a future that could be. Most of the parts had involved his increasing attraction to Katara, but at one point he had seen a glimpse of stone fire place, surrounded by dim, green light. This fire place.  
"No," he slowly said. "There's more than these maps. And it involves this fire place."  
Katara watched him in confusion as he let the bag slide from his shoulder and with determined steps approached the fire place, searchingly starting to examine it closely.

For a long moment her eyes followed him tensely as she in the mean time tried to keep an eye on the door, her ears fixed on every sound coming from the corridor behind it.  
"Zuko," she finally whispered, when he crouched down on his knees, feeling his way over the rough surface of the sandstone. What was he looking for?  
"One more moment," he whispered back as he thoughtfully frowned. "The memory for some reason focuses on this low part of the fire place," he mumbled as he pushed a little harder against the bricks.  
Then, suddenly a shoving sound echoed through the quiet chamber and Zuko felt two small hands grabbing him by his shoulders when he threatened to stumble over. As he vaguely noticed she didn't let go after he stabilized himself, he reached inside the small hole.  
When his hand came out he was holding an insignificant, small piece of paper.

Zuko slowly unfolded it, as Katara bowed over. "What is it?" She asked on a hushed tone, her breath tickling his good ear.  
Ignoring the wild pounding of his heart, her closeness caused him, he focused on the characters, neatly written down, in seemingly no particular order. They appeared to be whole sentences, with only one thing in common. There was something inviting about them.  
Their eyes widened in shock and their gaze met. "Code sentences," Katara whispered.  
"To activate hypnosis on several groups of people," Zuko added grimly. His hand clenched in a fist, the paper crumbling between his strong fingers. "Half of the city must be under hypnosis."  
He looked down when he felt cool, soft fingers carefully pulling the paper out of his grasp, out of fear he would accidentally burn it.  
"What do we do now?" Katara asked quietly as she hid the paper on her chest and Zuko straightened himself.  
"We have to somehow get this information to Commander Jee."  
"A messenger hawk," Katara understood and they both made a step towards the door when suddenly their eyes fixed on the handle slowly moving downwards as the door opened. They froze. They were standing in the middle of the room and there wouldn't be enough time to hide themselves. Petrified they waited for the person stepping inside the room.  
They met with a slender form, dressed as a warrior with long black hair, a bored look in her half lidded eyes.  
"So, you've found your belongings."

Zuko shot in a stance immediately. "Jun!"  
The corners of her mouth pulled up in a mocking smirk.  
"It's all there. Your stuff, I mean. I managed to get all of the interesting stuff out of the bags before Weiting's men had the chance to search them. Only the knife and the necklace are missing. The Pirate Captain has them stiffly in his pocket. He seems to think the trinkets can gain him some leverage," she said lazily. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll manage to get them back."  
"You were the one who placed our bags in the cell?" Katara asked baffled, suddenly remembering the unfathomable wink Jun had given her when the pirates noted they had found nothing interesting in their belongings. "But why?"  
Jun smiled indifferently. "I figured it would gain me more to have the Fire Lord as a friend than a bunch of pirates."  
She straightened her back. "So, how's your grandfather doing?"

Zuko for a moment didn't react, trying to probe her intentions and suddenly grinned as he slid out of his stance. "Well enough, I suppose. He's the one who sent us on this trip."  
"So, the old man's still trying to get you two together, huh? And by the looks of it, he's succeeding this time…"  
Katara turned bright red again but Zuko only smiled sheepishly as Jun turned around and motioned them to follow her.  
"Normally I don't want to play anyone's messenger, but tonight I think you'll be needing me. I will go and bring the scrolls you found to Senlin Village. With some effort they will fit into a messenger hawk's jug and they will reach the Fire Nation fleet on time."  
She looked over her shoulder, a mocking smile playing around her lips. "Of course I expect to be well rewarded afterwards."

For the broad staircase she stood still. "Now, go back to your cell and lock yourselves in with the key I gave you. It is rumored that the Fire Navy is on its way to Senlin Harbor as is the Earth Kingdom battalion stationed in the neighborhood. Even the governor seems to have left his capital city with reinforcements. I've heard that once, long ago he was a fearsome general. And there are even rumors of a mysterious force coming to Senlin Harbor of which no one knows who or what they are.  
Ready yourselves for battle. When the night falls again the Blue Spirit has to prepare for the troops to enter the city. Use the codes your girlfriend has hidden on her heart."

---

"You were difficult to be found, Grandmaster," a tenor voice suddenly spoke up in the low-spirited silence. The voice of a young man who had only recently gained control over the lowered pitches.  
Uncle Iroh jerked up his head to see the tall young Avatar standing in the doorway, holding his glider in his hand, a wary expression in his grey eyes.  
"Aang!" Uncle Iroh shot up and with difficulty climbed over the large messy piles holding him hostage behind the desk. "I thought you'd gone away!"  
The young man looked at him contemptuously. "Of course not. I would never leave Toph. I went to the Wan Shi Tong desert."  
Iroh's eyes widened at his words but Aang let his gaze wander across the explosion running the length of the room. "Whose room is it you're messing up?"  
"Professor Zei's," Uncle Iroh explained guiltily. "We were looking for information… on the Avatar Cycle and the Spirit World."  
"I see," Aang said coolly. "Then here I have something that might interest you."  
He opened his hand and threw something on the nearest pile of historical artifacts, not looking at the professor who had silently watched as he suddenly had appeared in the doorway and now hesitantly came forward to see a few papers slowly unfold from the tight grip they had been in. He widened his eyes.  
"Grandmaster Iroh…" Professor He whispered. "The missing pages. He has recovered them."

In the blink of an eye Iroh stood next to him and carefully smoothed out the paper. "These are the missing pages."  
He looked up. "But how…"  
"Roku told me," Aang cut him off, "he told me you were searching for something I was to find in the Wan Shi Tong desert." His mouth momentarily curled up in an joyless smile.  
"It's amazing how much a whirlwind of sand can uncover," Aang then almost nonchalantly said, but then his eyes softened. "Toph has taught me well about what she picked up from the sandbenders."  
Iroh bowed over the pages and asked without looking up: "You've read those pages?"  
At first Aang didn't answer. Then he quietly replied. "I have. Concerning the identity of the chosen ones, the pages point out a Fire Lord and a Water Princess." He closed his eyes for a moment and Iroh wondered what more the pages had stated about Zuko and Katara. But Aang didn't elaborate as his mind seemed to wander to someone different then Katara. Someone who now thought had been left behind by the friend who gradually had taken another place in her heart as well…  
Aang took a deep breath, clearly struggling with what he was about to say.  
"The dreams won't stop until Toph and I will answer to them. We have to go into the Spirit World, together."

---

**A/N:** _Hi there and thanks very much for the reviews! I loved reading those. To Saucebender I like to say thanks for mentioning the difference with the show. I fixed it so the past will be in line with the show again (yes, I'm strict on myself). And you had it right: the governor is the general who was defeated by Iroh at Ba Sing Se, the general to whom Zuko's knife originally belonged to. You will find out more about him next chapter._

_And as you all have read, Zuko wasn't brainwashed or hypnotized after all, he was getting them off the ship by playing along._

_Anyway, this is the 30th chapter in this story (can't believe it myself) and this week's chapter is a set up for the battle for Senlin Harbor coming up next week._

And Aang finally came back!

The prompt has been used in the description of the door to Weiting's office. The pomegranate has several mythological meanings like fertility, concentrated life force and wealth. A perfect kind of fruit to be the symbol of a formerly rich seaport town like Taku. The first review for this chapter on dA stated this chapter is also like a pomegranate, it's bursting with so much stuff, haha!

_This week's music is the 2003 song Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime by Nena ft. Kime Wilde. Don't ask._

_On a sidenote, I went to see Slumdog Millionaire yesterday. It's a lovely movie and with a very good music score.  
_


	31. Payback

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 31: Payback**

Music: Kelly Clarkson, My Life Would Suck Without You

Darkness had settled on Senlin Harbor again as the lights in the street flickered in the ice cold eastern winds. Only a few drunk smugglers were thrown out of a tavern here and there, otherwise the city was abandoned. It seemed like the underworld town was holding its breath, waiting for, bracing itself for something, anything that was about to happen.  
Suddenly a swift shadow shot across a few roofs, to disappear in the darkness of the nearby alley. Before he with a cat like crouch jumped off the roofs, a small ray of silvery moonlight lit up his blue and white mask.  
For a moment only the wind blowing through the streets could be heard, then a smaller figure emerged from the rooftops as well, face hidden behind a dark cloth mask except for the glistening blue eyes, narrowing in concentration as she focused on the place where the previous shadow had disappeared. The light of the nearest street lantern then cast a golden beam on the craftily painted red make-up surrounding the eyes, the cheekbones accented by elegant swirls of the same color. When she jumped off the roof as well, the crescent moon shaped decoration on her forehead sparkled.

The minute she landed she was caught by two strong arms, circling around her to prevent her from falling, then putting her on her feet at last. She looked up at the grinning mask, bowed down to her.  
"I can't believe the Blue Spirit actually is on the move with the Painted Lady," a muffled voice sounded teasingly from behind the mask and for a moment the young woman could see a glimpse of a golden gaze looking at her intently before disappearing behind the sightless black holes of the mask again.  
She lifted her hand and for a moment touched the mask's smooth, ultrathin metal.  
"If you're wearing my colors then I'm wearing yours," she replied casually, but softly before she let her hand fall again. It felt strange seeing him actually wearing the mask, he for so long now had kept in his bag unused. Seeing the mysterious Blue Spirit, the way she remembered him from the wanting posters he had been portrayed on, now looking down on her. Realizing once more it had been Zuko all along.

She remembered she had once vaguely wondered why an Earth Kingdom thug would take on a Water Tribe personality. The faceless criminal who at crucial times had defied the Fire Nation authorities who had named him the Blue Spirit. And was now their leader.  
From behind the mask he watched the young woman standing before him, as she reached up to touch his mask. She was dressed as the Painted Lady, although not entirely. Their mission made it necessary for her to wear the inconspicuous travelling clothes, based on the clothes they wore during their mission to the Fire Nation two years ago, instead of the dramatic open dress and veiled rice hat. Now only her glistening blue eyes shone at him from above the dark mask, hiding her nose and mouth from view. It gave her a haunting yet beautiful appearance. The waterbending healing master. The Painted Lady. Katara.  
He held his breath when her gentle, almost playful words reached him, making his heart skip a beat.  
"You've got the codes?" He then asked, a tender tone lacing his voice. She nodded.  
"Pick the right one," she whispered back, before she handed over the small note. A brief brush of his warm fingers over her cool ones, and he had disappeared.  
Only a few minutes later he soundlessly landed in front of her, putting his hand to the ground before straightening up. "Done."  
She smiled invisibly behind the mask. "Next one is mine."

The whole night long they stealthily went through town, unlocking doors, opening small gates in the fences while destroying others, giving false orders to the specially trained pirates and smugglers supporting Weiting's rule, by activating them with the code sentences. There wouldn't be enough Dai Li agents to correct them all and that bought the Earth Kingdom army precious time to enter the city.

As the moon slowly started to retreat and a somber grayish light appeared on the eastern horizon, they had opened up the last small gate and now found themselves sitting on a rooftop, taking a moment to rest and enjoy their freedom before voluntary locking themselves in again. Their silhouettes were brought out against the dark sky by the light of dawn, increasing with each minute they sat motionless, their hair softly waving in the wind.  
"I hope Jun is right and the Black Clock indeed has managed to reach the Fire Navy," Katara then said softly, her gaze fixed on the small dot of red now appearing above the smooth horizon behind the sea. She thought about the strange realization that for the first time in her life, she would be glad to see the threatening black steel ships appear on the horizon.  
"I hope so too," he softly replied as he followed her gaze, knowing where the Fire Navy, if they would show up, would come from.  
"I also hope Jun has reached Senlin Village on time," Katara sighed worriedly and was met with the familiar feeling of his arm being wrapped around her shoulders. Gladly she laid her head on the crook of his neck, slipping her arm around his waist as well.  
"I think she has," she felt his voice softly rumble through his body as he leaned his head on hers. "I figure the maps are already in Commander Jee's hands. Jun's Shirshu is fast."  
For a moment they said nothing, only watching the sunrise together, two dark figures sitting on a green rooftop in an Earth Kingdom pirates' den, a blue spirit grinning devilishly and a painted lady with a glowing crescent moon above her glistening eyes, waiting in the silence before the storm.

"The city looks so peaceful right now," she whispered regretfully, as the morning fog slowly started to disappear in the rising sun, causing his body to warm up next to her. Inconspicuously she moved a little closer, watching the damp rising from the messy sea of roofs before them, stretching out towards the calm sea until it blended with the forest of dancing masts.  
"As peaceful as Ba Sing Se did," he replied a little bitterly. How he couldn't have recognized the signals before he still didn't understand, but this city was in the grasp of a force beyond any criminal organization. And he was determined to end it, but now he only enjoyed the last moment of peace he would have with Katara for quite some time.

He secretly smiled behind his mask when he felt her body moving closer to his, trying to remain unnoticed, as he slightly turned to give her better access. And as he looked down on her braided hair and red markings on her cheeks, he felt happy. Happy to have her in his arms, happy she was still with him in this mess, happy she seemed to enjoy his presence more and more.

"I think we have to go back," her voice sounded muffled behind her mask, but he could hear the hint of disappointment as she said it. Silently he watched as she looked up, her eyes searching for any sign of his presence behind the mask. Then she suddenly reached up and pulled up the mask, revealing the face hidden underneath it.  
Surprised by her actions Zuko for a moment only stared at her, as mixed feelings passed over his face. The grave the circumstances might have been, Zuko ever since he'd discovered the mask in his bag, had been longing for the moment he could put it on and feel like he used to feel when putting on the mask; relieved for being able to leave behind the scarred identity of a banished prince, as it eased his insecurity and frustration into calm and calculation, feeling safe in the knowledge that no one could recognize him. It used to make him feel euphoric, especially when he realized his masked alter ego had set a certain reputation contrary to his own; that of the noble thief, the uncatchable swordfighter, feared by the authorities.  
It hadn't really been a conscious choice when he picked the blue mask out of the many the merchant sold, but for some inexplicable reason he had felt drawn to the cool color and the vicious grin, exuding an icy ruthlessness he'd only seen once before in the young girl travelling with the Avatar. The young girl who had felt compelled to take the identity of a Fire Nation spirit later on. The girl who was leaning against him now.  
And as she looked up at him, he knew he felt relieved she'd pulled away the mask. He didn't want to hide anymore, didn't need to. Not in front of her.

His heartbeat quickened as he looked down on the red painted Water Tribe woman snuggled into his embrace. Then, carefully, he reached up as well, pulling down the cloth hiding from view her beautifully curved mouth which was framed by more red decorations.  
He felt he was slowly being captured by her intense expression, sinking into the bottomless depths of the tender gaze in her glistening blue eyes.  
On their own accord his hands reached up and gently cupped her face as her eyes stayed fixed on him. Then he felt her hand which hadn't let go of the mask all that time slip behind his head, resting on his neck. He shivered.  
"Before we leave…" she then whispered breathlessly and let her voice trail away as he heaved her face to him and leaned in, then hesitated. "Before we leave…" he repeated softly and their lips touched in a soft kiss, growing more urgent as both of them wrapped their arms around each other, desperate to savor the moment before hell would break loose.

---

She has come. As I had expected for some time now. My beautiful hawk has come, carrying a cry for help. He's in danger. My boy, my precious, precious son. And he's not alone. She's with him. _His_ daughter. I can remember him standing there, as he allowed us to invade his palace without consent. I have to help her. I owe it to him…  
"Your Highness?"  
"The message has come. Let seven of you be prepared to leave for Senlin Harbor."

---

"Your Excellency, welcome at the Senlin Harbor garrison." The commanding officer bowed to the governor stepping out of his palanquin and momentarily let his gaze wander over the ranks silently standing behind their colonel, assembled to welcome him.  
"Thank you colonel. I've brought you a battalion consisting of elite members of the city's defense force." With an inviting wave of his arm, the governor pointed towards a large group of highly trained earthbenders, speared soldiers, archers and sword fighters. The colonel's eyes lit up. He could use all the help against the pirate's den.  
"Your Excellency has come at a good time. Only an hour ago I received a message from Commander Jee of the Fire Navy's eastern fleet with maps of Senlin Harbor. The woman who had send them to him, had received them from the Fire Lord himself." The amazement over that fact hadn't disappeared from the man's face yet.  
The governor averted his gaze to the west, where below the high cliffs the pirate town was situated. "So, he's really in there?" His voice sounded strange and the colonel for a moment watched the governor before he nodded slowly. "It seems so."  
The governor didn't move, then turned back his gaze towards the colonel, a determined expression in his eyes. "The reinforcements are under your command from now, colonel, however there's one condition. I will be joining the operation."  
The colonel paled and the governor smiled a little sadly, knowing what the man must be thinking right now. "Don't worry, I won't become a burden to you. I actually know a few things about warfare. I only have a score to settle."

---

"Wake up, both of you! You're going to take a bath."  
Katara groggily opened her eyes and felt Zuko's arms tighten around her as the Dai Li agent bowing over her, pulled her out of the Fire Lord's grasp.  
Blinking against the light coming from the corridor, she looked at Zuko who was pulled on his feet and handcuffed too. She could see he wasn't completely awake either, having slept only a few hours after they had successfully returned from their nightly expedition.  
"A bath?" He finally asked, when his mind had processed the unexpected information.  
"The leader of Senlin Harbor wants you to be taken good care of," one of the Dai Li agents explained curtly. "Your clothing will be burned and you will be provided with new ones."  
And with that the door slammed shut behind the agents and their prisoners.

Zuko had to admit this wasn't so bad, as he closed his eyes and sunk deep under the water's surface, feeling the water soak off the dirt clinging to his body. Him and Katara had been brought to separate bathrooms where they could take bath under surveillance of their Dai Li agents who had chosen to stay outside, giving them their privacy.  
He had been allowed to wash himself, which was more than he could expect in the Fire Palace and they had provided him with an expensive kind of soap, made by the nuns of the Mo Ce Sea abbey. His lips curled up in a small smile when he realized the irony of it. He still remembered the only moment he had seen Jun's Shirshu being put off a trail, when the nuns had poured all of their precious perfume over the courtyard. And after he'd lost his hold on Katara, lying closely to him on the Shirshu's back, he'd lost her necklace too…  
He let a few bubbles escape from his mouth as he watched the greenish light shimmer through the water's surface, then slowly came to the surface again, inhaling the the sweet, musk like scent of Fire Lilies, which had soon filled the bathroom. The scent defining the memories of his earliest youth, the scent of his mother.  
With a violent movement he shot up from the water and took the basket with clean, steaming water standing beside the bath, throwing it over himself to wash away the remaining soap, then stepped out of the bath. Immediately the silent servant offered him a towel and unfolded his new clothes.  
"You will have lunch with the leader of Senlin Harbor now," a dry voice suddenly spoke up from behind him and Zuko spun around to see his Dai Li agent standing behind him, having entered the bathroom soundlessly.  
"And Katara?" He asked as he uncomplainingly let the agent put on the handcuffs again.  
"The Water Princess is waiting for you down the hall." The agent turned around and Zuko followed him with an relieved sigh.

Katara turned around from pointlessly studying one of the green lamps hanging on the wall, when she heard the door to Zuko's bathroom open. An appreciative smile appeared on her lips when she saw her friend follow his agent outside. Of course the Dai Li agents must be bad, but she had to admit they had a good taste in clothing.  
Zuko wore a simple deep green robe, made of fine wool and linen, the diagonal fastening and hems a lighter green silk decorated with a thin golden band. The supple fabric clung nicely to his well build frame and as he came walking towards her, she could see the loose trousers peek from underneath the robes. His hair, falling over his forehead in neat but still playful strands, gleamed in the light of the lamps.  
She turned away blushing when he caught her eyes wandering over his body but after a moment of hesitation, took the hand he had extended inconspicuously.  
"You look nice," he whispered to her as they started walking out of the cellar and towards the dining room where Weiting would be waiting for them.  
Zuko eyed the young woman walking next to him, her robe a few shades lighter than his, the hems of her dress embroidered with little pink flowers. A gleaming mass of curls framed her adorable face.  
The blush hadn't completely disappeared yet, when she slightly turned her head to face him and smiled a little. "You too," she mouthed before they stepped into the dining room.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to have you treat you as guests since you've been brought in here," Weiting noted as he smiled friendly and motioned them to sit down. "I hope you like the clothing?"  
Zuko and Katara for a moment looked at each other, before Zuko bowed his head in acknowledgment. "Yes, thank you."  
When he looked up, his eyes met with a cold, hard gaze, but then the smile returned to the leader's handsome face and he said: "Where are my manners? You must be hungry. Please, eat."  
The table was filled with all kinds of fruit, bread and noodle soup. Hesitantly Katara stretched out her hand and started to fill her plate, as Weiting nodded approvingly.  
Zuko on the other hand, hadn't moved, his gaze fixed on Senlin Harbor's leader. "Any news from the Fire Nation?" He then casually asked as he too stretched out his hand, feeling Weiting's eyes boring into his.  
He didn't cave in though and the leader smiled smugly. "Not yet, no. But it doesn't surprise me. I know those nobles to be very indecisive."  
A shiver run across Katara's spine as she understood the meaning hidden underneath his words. The nobles could also decide for Zuko's killing.  
"So you know them well?" Zuko asked imperturbably as he took a slow bite from his melon.  
"Perhaps," Weiting replied pleasantly, his smile not wavering.  
"And is Senlin Harbor as easy to control as Ba Sing Se was?"  
Now the leader's eyes narrowed slightly as he said softly: "You're asking a lot of questions Your Majesty. Perhaps more than you should… But to answer your last question; I'm not controlling Senlin Harbor as the Dai Li weren't controlling Ba Sing Se. We kept order. Order in chaos. And now I've brought order to Senlin Harbor."  
He suddenly stood up and the two agents appeared from behind a green velvet curtain. "Bring them back to their cell."

---

Night had fallen over Senlin Harbor again as the wind blew silvery clouds past the moon and rustled through the conifers outside the city.  
Everything was quiet.  
Then, a burning arrow suddenly lit the dark sky and disappeared in the black waters of the sea. The colonel and the governor looked at each other and nodded silently. Their allies had arrived. It was time.  
The colonel silently motioned to one of his officers who nodded. Quietly and stealthily he and his soldiers approached the fences surrounding the city. With an intense gaze the governor watched as the soldiers one by one disappeared through small, almost invisible gates near the ground. Someone from the inside must have been helping.  
A few muffled cries and growls rose from behind the fences, starting to spread across the entire length of the fence. The colonel then motioned for the archers to follow the others and with satisfaction saw as they took position on top of the fences. One of the archers looked down and caught his silent nod.  
The next moment another burning arrow lit up the sky.

---

Katara woke with a start when she heard a low, threatening horn repeatedly sounding through the night. Sitting up, she turned her head to see Zuko standing underneath the small hole in the wall, looking at the bright light illuminating the ceiling, before it died away.  
"What's going on?" She asked worriedly, looking at Zuko who didn't avert his gaze from the wall.  
"It has started," he replied softly.  
Katara went to stand next to him and took his hand. "What's with that sound?"  
"It's the Fire Navy. I think Commander Jee has chosen for a frontal attack and the Earth Kingdom troops will have secretly used the openings in the fences we made for them last night."  
He turned to look down on her worried but determined face and lifted his hand to stroke her soft curls. "Come, we need to ready ourselves. I expect the Dai Li agents to come barging in any moment now."

---

With a grim expression on his face, Commander Jee stood on the bridge, looking at the city looming in front of him as the ships steadily approached the harbor. Moving only his eyes in his impassive face, he saw the light signals from the ships surrounding the flag ship, keeping contact about their progression.  
His cool eyes slowly wandered across the scenery stretching out before him, as the city finally woke up, confused about what was happening. Ships were trying to leave the harbor but were met with a wall of black steel closing off the harbor.  
"Let the landing crafts go and let the Yu Yan Archers cover them," he then said on a hushed tone and the young officer next to him bowed and left.  
The commander watched impassively as soon the huge ships were surrounded by landing crafts heading for the city, as a rain of burning arrows landed on the pirate ships before them. A few ships caught fire and soon a reddish light colored the dark sky.  
Then soft footsteps echoed through the steel bridge, but the commander didn't look up. "You know what you have to do now. You are the one who knows the most of this city. Lead my men to the Fire Lord and the Water Princess and bring them back unharmed." For a moment he was silent. "I would be grateful," he then said.  
The Black Clock bowed his head. "I will," he said and left the bridge.

---

The governor watched as all of the special forces disappeared behind the fences and the rest of the soldiers took position surrounding the city.  
"It's time Your Excellency," the colonel spoke up next to him. "The group is waiting for you."  
He looked around to see a silent group of earthbenders, specially trained to work in urban environments, focused on the task before them, waiting for him.  
He momentarily closed his eyes, then for the first time in more than eight years took command. He nodded to the group's leader and the group started to approach the hidden gate.  
It was time for payback.

---

**A/N:** _At first I want to thank all of you who got me over 200 reviews! I'm so happy with them, so glad to know you appreciate the story enough to review. You all seemed relieved that Aang had disappeared for a reason. Now he only has to face a very hurt earthbender, so I hope that Iroh's house will still be existing by the time Toph has spoken with Aang... And what more, he has read about the identity of the chosen ones, knowing now there's more to Katara and Zuko's disappearance together than a setup by Uncle Iroh. But he still has a lot to realize._

_In this week's chapter the battle for Senlin Harbor has begun! There are two kinds of payback in this chapter; a good one and a bad one... And to who is the governor referring to?_

_Also, the Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady finally have gone on a mission..._

_And I bought a new dictionary, yay! Contrary to my old one, this one has some grammar rules in the back._

_Concerning Slumdog Millionaire: I knew indeed that Dev Patel is going to be Zuko in the live action movies. Still have a bit difficulty seeing him as Zuko, instead I had preferred him playing Sokka. But since I don't really like the casting in general, I'm not surprised I've doubts about this one too. There's only one advantage of Dev Patel playing Zuko: the age difference between him and the actress playing Katara isn't that big as the previous casted actor, so the Zutara moments won't be as awkward as it were to be with the previous actor._

_The music for this chapter I think everyone knows. No particular reason why I chose it, just happen to like it, although it has a strong Disney feeling over it... But, hey at least Disney knew how to properly handle romance._

_Happy Easter everyone!_


	32. Face Gift

_At first I would want to say I'm sorry for the late update, but_ _I simply couldn't write this chapter in one week. There were too many things I had to think over and write down and it has become a nearly 10.000 word chapter.  
I just hope I pulled it off. _

_Anyway, enjoy the new chapter with the battle for Senlin Harbor!_

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 32: Face/Gift**

Music: Guru Josh Project, Infinity 2008 (Klaas Vocal Edit)

"Toph…"  
It almost sounded like a sigh to her when he spoke her name, a silent apology resonating in his hushed tone as he watched the bitter expression on her set face. Her sensitive ears heard Uncle Iroh shuffle away, giving the young people their privacy.  
"Just don't level the house," he begged softly before Toph's mentor had disappeared indoors. For a moment her mouth curled up in a grim smile.  
"So, you decided to show up again," she then established coldly, turning toward the young man standing a few steps away from her, his heart beating irregularly as he clenched his glider. He was nervous. He should be.

"Toph, I…. I know it looked like I left you, but…"  
"It looked like it?" Despite herself, Toph couldn't avoid her voice rising to higher pitches. "You've disappeared for almost a week! Do you have any idea on what it felt like, being left behind the way you did?"  
Aang bowed his head. "I know, I'm sorry, but… but… I had to go search the Wan Shi Tong desert for our journey into the Spirit World."  
He hadn't yet completed his sentence, when he felt himself flying through the air, hitting the nearby streetlight painfully as solid rock immediately trapped him against the wrought iron pole. Then the light flickered and extinguished. Aang grunted softly as Toph stepped away from the door, carefully approaching him through the snow.

"Oh no, you're not giving me that shit. I'm not going with you into the Spirit World. You made it very clear you didn't want me to go in there with you." The low tone of her voice was laced with bitterness and resentment, but also with a hint of uttermost sadness.  
Aang's eyes widened. "Toph, no. I found…" he whispered with difficulty as his throat was almost completely shut off by the rock surrounding him. Her furious expression however withheld him from freeing himself. It somehow felt like he deserved her anger.

"No Aang! This is just like the time you disappeared from the Fire Nation ship! Maybe Katara has let you get away with it, but not me. Do you have any idea of who I am?" Toph suddenly exploded, her face inches away from his as a green fury took a hold on her. "I didn't offer going with you into the Spirit World, because I might enjoy it. Those dreams are affecting me too and they have only gotten worse since you've been gone. I'm not some random girl you play your airbending tricks with on Avatar Day. I'm your earthbending teacher and I will not be toyed with!"  
Snow softly started to fall from the dark sky, staying to rest on her black bangs as a brilliant tear formed in the corner of her sightless, green eyes, raging with anger and hurt. It hit Aang with unexpected force as he looked down on her. He drew in a ragged breath and in a fiery reflex he brought up his arms, forgetting his intention to not break the rock prison surrounding him.

With a violent sound, the rock crumbled down as he wrapped his arms around the petite earthbender and sealed her lips in an unexpected kiss.  
Toph froze and her eyes widened in shock, but the slap in his face he braced himself for, never came. Instead she didn't withhold him when after a moment he slipped his hand gently to the back of her head and deepened the kiss. The blood pounded in his ears as Aang relished in the feeling of holding Toph in her arms, her soft lips opening up to his while she unclenched her fists and slowly slid her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her.

After a moment which seemed to have lasted forever, Aang broke the kiss and whispered: "I'm so sorry for what I did to you by going away. Be sure I hold you the highest esteem, Lady Bei Fong."  
He gently took a step back and made a respectful Earth Kingdom bow, knowing she would sense the movement, then looked up again. "Please, forgive me, Toph."

---

Katara's hand on its own accord searched for Zuko's as they both fixed their gazes on the prison door squeaking open. Their robes softly swayed in the draft pulling from the corridor as their two Dai Li agents stepped into view, accompanied by the Pirate Captain and the barker, grinning meanly.  
The Dai Li agents were visibly irritated by the presence of the two pirates, clenching their jaws before one of them, Zuko's agent, spoke up.

"The city is under attack. We expect the troops to come look for you. Therefore we need to tighten our security. To be sure however that you don't think less of our hospitality…" the agent fixed his gaze on Zuko who looked back impassively, "does the leader of Senlin Harbor want to welcome you to Senlin Harbor again."  
Katara's eyes widened in shock as the agent stepped forward with a sharp look in his eyes. But Zuko already had let go of her hand and his face became a stone mask as he replied evenly: "I would be honored."  
A satisfied expression momentarily passed over the Dai Li's face, then he turned around and snapped his fingers. "Take him."

***

The rumor in the city grew louder and louder as Katara hugged her knees and leaned her chin on them.  
To her uttermost relief Zuko had reacted very quickly to the unexpected charm, but now they had taken him away and she didn't know where he had gone. She suspected the leader had decided it safer to keep them separated until he had defeated the invaders. Dejectedly, she glanced at the small hole in the wall, where the lights of the stars had vanished against the red glow of fire coming from the harbor and touched the bags hidden underneath the straw.

She thought back of the moment she and Zuko had spend on a rooftop in Senlin Harbor, watching a calmer but not less fiery version of the same red hues as the sun had risen from the east.  
His gaze had been so… relieved somehow when she pulled away his mask, a large contrast to the excitement with which he had put it on at the beginning of the evening and transformed into the stealthy shadow called the Blue Spirit. Katara was glad she had bothered to buy a small tin of red make-up, when waiting for the ship which would take them to Kyoshi Island. She had caught a glimpse of his stare at her, whenever he thought she didn't look during their entire nightly quest. His gaze had been intense, a bit confused but ever so tenderly.

So different from the moment he left their cell. His eyes had been so distant again, when he had responded to his agent's command, the shivers ran across her spine again when she thought about it. If it hadn't been for that one moment in which he had turned his head and flashed her a meaningful look before the door shut close again…  
With a silent gasp she shot up. The key! Immediately she ducked into one of the bags and pulled out the little key Jun had left for them. He had been meaning to ask her to come for him. Katara frowned dangerously, furious with herself she hadn't figured that out earlier. Now, if only she had her…

'Everything is in there. Your stuff, I mean…' Jun's voice almost reproachfully reminded her in her memory as she once again ducked into the bag and pulled out her own water pouch, the beautiful one GranPakku had given her, with the symbols of the moon and the ocean punched into the dark leather. The pouch was refilled with crystal clear water. With a brilliant smile she put it on and then turned towards the door.

---

A dark expression passed over the Dai Li group leader's face, when he looked out the window, seeing the huge Fire Navy war ships sealing his harbor hermetically. One of his agents had already informed him of the Earth Kingdom troops which had been able to get into town without being bothered by the reinforcements of the warriors guarding the fences. They must have had help from the inside. His lips hardened in a thin line. If the leader of Senlin Harbor would find out who it was, he wouldn't live to tell the day.

Lowering his gaze he looked at the letter he had received, just before the Fire Navy had arrived and a fierce feeling of joy engulfed him as he again read the characters written on the expensive parchment. The nobles finally had come to the decision and requested for the Fire Lord's immediate transfer to the Fire Nation. His eyes averted to the richly decorated ring, shaped into a dragon biting his own tail, the eyes set with brilliant rubies. The ring had been in the jug with the letter from the Fire Nation nobles. A gift. A kingly one.

Weiting laughed scornfully. Idiots. The conditions they had agreed on, immediate cease of all attacks on Senlin Harbor, was worth more then a thousand of these rings. Senlin Harbor would thrive under the protection of the Fire Nation, to the point where even the government in Ba Sing Se would not be able to get round Weiting anymore.

The sound of the heavy, carved door being opened made Weiting turn around, his eyes momentarily resting on the ornate pomegranate decorations giving the ancient wood its relief, then averted them to the agent stepping inside.  
"Sir, the Fire Lord has been transferred to the education room."  
"Good, prepare him to be brought to the hidden bay immediately, before the Fire Navy discovers its location. I want him to be on the boat to the Fire Nation this night."  
It was time to send a messenger hawk to that obnoxious commander of the Eastern Fleet, to tell him his siege was over.

---

Huddled into his cloak the Black Clock sat in the landing craft, looking at the black water surrounding him. Sometimes he would cast a glance at the grim soldiers sitting next to him, but he would always lower his gaze when they noticed, their eyes resting on him in irritation, as they were reminded to the fact they had to follow this man's lead.

The Black Clock sighed inaudibly. The commander had ordered him to find the Fire Lord, expecting him to know where the leader of Senlin Harbor would have hidden him and the Water Princess, but the member of the White Lotus Society honestly hadn't got the faintest idea. He knew one of the most powerful Pirate Captain's had something to do with the abduction, having recognized the face of his barker, but as he looked to the side from the corner of his eyes, the captain's ship appeared to be one of the two having caught fire.

"Alright. Listen up everyone," the group leader spoke up when the landing craft almost reached the quay. "We're going to look for the Fire Lord and Black Clock over here, is going to help us. At this moment the Earth Kingdom army is invading the city from land and that gives us the opportunity to enter the city unhindered."  
Twelve light brown and golden gazes were turning around to the thief and he slumped back in his seat. Then he realized the soldiers expected him to say something. He cleared his throat.

"I… Since the Pirate Captain's ship got destroyed and the Fire Lord didn't appear to be on the boat…," a few gazes turned murderous, " I would suggest to go looking for the leader's house." He smiled a little sheepishly but the soldiers as one man turned back their gazes again, awaiting their group leader's reaction. He nodded curtly and the landing craft softly bumped the quay. The Black Clock swayed dangerously as he climbed out of the boat, the soldiers waiting motionlessly for him to take his position at front. What wouldn't he give for a good drink right now. This was going to be a long night.

---

A soft click of a key and a door to the dimly lit corridor slightly opened. A second later it went open entirely and Katara with a wary expression stepped outside, followed by a ribbon of glistening water. Apparently transporting Zuko had been considered of such importance that no one had found it necessary guarding the cell where the Water Princess was being held prisoner. A bitter smile passed over Katara's face as she established that the Dai Li had actually believed her story of not having been capable enough to fight off a couple of non bending pirates. Well, it was time to show them different.  
Her footsteps sounded hollow in the greenishly lit, abandoned corridor when she headed for the staircase.

---

Zuko slightly turned his head to take in the old arched vaults where the education room, as the Dai Li agents had put it, was located. It clearly was a copy of the place underneath Ba Sing Se where the Dai Li used to brainwash large groups of people, judging by the endless rows of lamps, neatly put on shelves against the roughly plastered wall.  
"You two, watch the Fire Lord while I notify our leader. And don't try anything; my colleague will still be outside."  
Both the pirates narrowed their eyes displeased, but didn't say a word as the barker roughly pushed Zuko into the only chair in the room and they positioned themselves on each of his side.  
"And there's no touching the prisoner," the Dai Li agent snapped, as Zuko shifted to find his balance again. The fact that his hands were tightly chained at his back, didn't help.

He bowed his head, studying the green fabric of his robes as his thoughts worked at top speed. There was something off about this situation. The Dai Li agents had said they wanted to separate him from Katara due to the Fire Nation attack on the city, but as he sat here in the education room, he started to suspect the Dai Li had plans to bring him somewhere else, out of town.

As he raised his head, realization slowly dawned to him. Weiting had received an answer. The nobles must have ordered for his transportation to the Fire Nation, otherwise the Dai Li would tried to kill him earlier.  
And knowing Weiting, he would want him to be on a ship towards the Fire Nation as soon as possible. Zuko's eyes widened. Katara. What were they going to do to her? Was there anything they could blackmail her father with, with the Dai Li having no particular interest in gold and treasures?  
He involuntary made a little movement as he tried to calm his nerves. Then he slowly realized both of the pirates hadn't reacted.  
A smile appeared on his lips as he bowed his head and concentrated on the chains around his wrists. Maybe it was time for a little of the payback Katara had wanted to give them in the barroom back then…

---

The Senlin Harbor leader's house was located near the harbor and the governor directed his group of earthbenders towards the quay, knowing that if the Fire Lord would be imprisoned somewhere, it would be there. But he had to be quick, otherwise the Dai Li would have relocated Prince Iroh's nephew, before the governor had arrived.

His fixed gaze was grim, as he rushed through the streets, not paying more attention at his surroundings than necessary to survive to the city at war around him. Everywhere pirates and smugglers were engaged in man-to-man battles with either Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation soldiers. Sword clashes were alternated with boosts of fire and rocks flying around. The city shuddered on its foundations.

The governor rounded another corner and suddenly was faced with a large, white building with darkened, empty windows. Whereas the city was engulfed in the sounds of war, this building was a beacon of silence amidst the noise.  
With expert eyes the governor scanned the building when suddenly a slender figure with dashing curls flashed across one of the windows, her concentrated blue gaze momentarily looking at the harbor outside, then disappearing again, followed by a ribbon of water.  
The governor smiled. He had come to the right place.

---

The melted chains softly tingled when Zuko pulled them from his wrists, looking from the corner of his eyes to the pirates standing motionless next to him, their gazes fixed at the door. His smile broadened, then he jumped up.  
The startled pirates took a step backwards, when Zuko widened his arms and a bolt of fire suddenly shot in their direction. He then took a quick turn and sent another boost of fire in their direction, which they could barely avoid. A smirk played around his lips as Zuko saw them jumping back in panic, knowing that no satisfying revenge was possible against these opponents. Even when they had attempted to kill him, he had outwitted them. They were no match. His priority now was to make sure Katara was safe.

He turned towards the door, when the Pirate Captain came to his senses again. With a growl he drew his Jian sword and threw it at the door with force. Zuko froze when suddenly a sword flew into the wood of the door, sticking trembling into the doorpost, barely an inch from his face. Slowly he turned around, as he sensed the door being opened by the Dai Li agent standing guard at the other side.  
The Pirate Captain pulled up his lips in a triumphant smile. Zuko wasn't going anywhere.

---

The bridge of the Fire Navy flagship was almost unpleasantly warm and buzzed with hushed voices giving information and orders, as heavy boots clicked on the metal floor. The dimly lit space sometimes was illuminated when another ship in the harbor became prey to the fire spreading around. Commander Jee hadn't found it necessary to extinguish it, as the fire only threatened the pirate ships he so desperately wanted to get rid of. As long as the fire didn't jump to the quay the commander settled with the flames partly blocking his view on the city.

Motionlessly the commander watched the scenery before him and he knew that by the end of night, he finally would have defeated Senlin Harbor. The maps and the information the Fire Lord had provided him with, as well as the preparation Zuko had done to make the invasion easier, had forced Senlin Harbor's mysterious protection to crumble and fall. But it didn't do anything to him. As he looked out the large window, he focused on every group of soldiers at the harbor, trying to see if one of those groups was guided by the Black Clock and brought with them the Fire Lord and the Water Princess. His gaze again passed over the piece of parchment on the desk before him.  
The leader of Senlin Harbor was quick in his assumptions, to expect the commander would cease his attack on the city because of a couple of nobles and the Dai Li holding his Fire Lord hostage. Maybe that would work with defenseless royalty like the Earth King. But Commander Jee knew and counted on it, that Zuko was everything but. The Fire Lord would find a way out of this. The success of the invasion already proved that.  
"Know your enemy," he grumbled as he crumpled the letter.

---

For a moment Zuko didn't move, taking in the three persons now approaching him. The barker had drawn his own, ragged sword, as the Pirate Captain had pulled his out of the doorpost, while the slight movement of the agent's wrist betrayed him readying one of the stone gloves, the Dai Li still carried. The surprise on his face betrayed he had believed Zuko to be still under hypnosis.  
His eyes wandered to the wall behind him. He could take them. He knew it. But it wouldn't be without a lot of damage to his enemies. A thing he rather avoided. He took a step backwards and slid almost subconsciously into a stance. Then everything became a big blur.  
In a flash Zuko saw something, somebody move behind his opponents and as they attacked he saw two gleaming swords and a pair of stone gloves shoot in his direction, at the same moment he lifted his arm and was being grabbed by something wet and cold, then pulled off the ground while he with the other arm shot a boost of fire towards the three Senlin Harbor men.

The moment he felt his feet touch the ground again, he saw a beautiful face with a pair of very blue eyes. She nodded and the same moment he spun around and fire and water collided in a steaming hiss. Before the pirates knew it, their targets had disappeared from their view.

"Run! Quickly!" Zuko heard a familiar voice say next to him and he looked to the side, seeing Katara rushing next to him, her light green robes fluttering as she ran. She threw a bag towards him and he automatically swung it across his back. Their eyes locked for a moment a smile graced both their lips before they averted their gazes towards the corridor ahead again.  
"Towards the entrance," Zuko called as they run up the stairs, towards the hall. His hand reached for Katara's, clasping it tightly.  
They rounded a corner and hastened up on the stairs, having the front door already in view when they froze on their spot, seeing the two pirates they had left behind approach them from the hall. With a mean grin on their features, both men drew their swords.  
"Guess you two won't escape us after all," the Pirate Captain scoffed at them.

From the corners of her eyes Katara looked at Zuko and the next moment she felt her arm being grabbed as she spun around and was being pulled against Zuko's back, while he slid into stance. A warm feeling engulfed her.  
"Yay for the Melon Lord," Katara heard Zuko mumble, clearly reliving the same moment, and then they jumped forward.  
Nearest to Katara was the barker, who took a step back when he saw the furious waterbender lash out her bending water at him. This was her chance to make him feel her anger towards him, for having dared to raise a finger to threaten Zuko's life. The realization, during that unfortunate night in the barroom, had sparked an anger, similar to the anger she had felt toward Hama and Yon Rha.  
Zuko was occupied with the Pirate Captain, she would give the barker a hell of a time.  
In murderous pace the water changed from a razor sharp ribbon into lashing whips and pointy icicles, as Katara elegantly stood her ground, serenely waving her hands in a waterbender's fighting style.

The barker saw his attacks being negated by means of the deadly water, handled with absolute control by the waterbending princess. He stumbled back and fell, as she softly landed on her feet and summoned back her bending water, her eyes shining fiery as she looked down on the pirate struggling to get on his feet again. Then she lashed out the glistening ribbon to the barker's right hand holding a short, ragged sword and the weapon fell onto the ground powerlessly.

As Katara stepped back and turned around, she kept an eye on Zuko fighting the Pirate Captain. She noticed that he was calm and collected in his fighting style, almost elegantly ducking and avoiding the forceful blows, letting them meet with fierce boosts of fire. Despite the long Earth Kingdom robes he wore, Zuko elegantly and swiftly changed positions, to her astonishment one time even run up against the wall to land silently behind the confused captain and soon drove the Pirate Captain into a corner, then disarmed him with a few swift movements. The captain yelped and fell down, his sword flying through the air to land behind Zuko. Squeaking the reptile-bird on his shoulder flew away to safer places.  
The young Fire Lord coolly eyed the man lying before him in a unceremonious heap, then took a wary step backwards and bent down to pick up the Jian sword. At that moment a flash of lightning lit up the sky behind the windows and illuminated the small weapon that had suddenly sprung into the pirate's hand as he jumped up.  
Katara instantly froze the barker against the wall and yelled: "Zuko, look out!"

Zuko jerked up his head when he heard Katara's cry and noticed the dagger in the pirate's hand, his eyes widening as he recognized the soft gleam.  
Then, suddenly he heard a door slamming open and a streak of green flashed before his eyes and the Pirate Captain flew through the air, clenching his broken wrist, as the rock column disappeared into the ground again.

Zuko slid into a stance when the Earth Kingdom man, dressed as a general, turned around and looked at him, a grave expression in his eyes as he looked from the ivory dagger in his hands to the young man in front of him.  
"Once I gave this knife to a very honorable general, a crown prince to his nation, in recognition of my defeat, " he said with a stern voice and Zuko slowly straightened himself. His eyes widened in disbelief. "He had done what no other army had ever accomplished in the thousands of years of Ba Sing Se's existence: breaching the outer wall of the impenetrable city."  
For a moment he clenched the dagger in his hand, before opening it again and holding out a gleaming knife with in the blade the craftily put in characters. Never give up without a fight.  
"I came here on request of the person who so honorably defeated me back then, thus providing me with the opportunity to face one of the persons who took everything from me afterwards."  
"My uncle sent this dagger to me when I was about ten years old," Zuko finally said quietly as he looked down on the small weapon in the Earth Kingdom general's hand. "It has been a guidance in my life ever since."  
"Then I think this belongs to you… Your Majesty," the general smiled. "I can't think of a more suitable owner for this dagger, for you have managed what no Fire Lord has ever managed before: breaking Senlin Harbor's defense and breaking the rule of the Dai Li. The Fire Navy and the Earth Kingdom army are occupying the city as it is and I'm glad to establish I've accomplished to settle my first score. I've set free Prince Iroh's nephew."

"Don't cheer too soon, governor," a mocking voice suddenly sounded from behind them, as the Pirate Captain scrambled up against the wall, despite his pain contorted face, a wicked smile playing around his lips.  
Then he suddenly lunged for Zuko and the general and Katara in a flash saw him draw another, short sword from his robes.  
A surge of panic shot through her body as she lifted her arms in a reflex, feeling the panic merge with a more powerful feeling strengthening her abilities as the moon revealed her presence to her, behind the clouds. She closed her eyes and brought together her hands, a bitter expression on her face.

"Too many times you have tried to take Zuko's life. It will end here," she said softly and the pirate crashed on the floor, writhing in pain as she took control over his body.  
She came back to her senses, when she suddenly felt a hand gently put onto her arm. "I think he's suffered enough. You can let go now." His husky voice sounded reassuring as he put his other hand on her lower back and then reached for her hand to envelop it in his. Immediately she lowered her hands, breaking the spell over the Pirate Captain, as the barker looked at her in terror.  
But Zuko bent over and cut open the pirate's red jerkin with the pirate's own Jian sword. "You have something that I want back," Zuko whispered darkly and in the blink of an eye he had reached in one of the pockets and pulled out a blue necklace, with a gleaming stone dangling from the soft velvet band.

The Pirate Captain looked at him in absolute detest, not being able to move as he stayed slumped down against the wall. Then his eyes suddenly averted to a point behind Zuko and widened. He spoke with difficulty, his voice ragged but with a hint of triumph. "The Dai Li are coming."

Zuko spun around to see several mysterious persons clad in dark green robes jumping off the balustrade surrounding them, softly landing on heaved rocks bringing them down to the ground.  
With a wary expression in his eyes the general averted his gaze to the courtyard outside, where his earthbenders had become engaged in a fight with a clearly highly trained group of pirates and smugglers. The three of them would be on their own.  
The two Dai Li agents who had guarded Zuko and Katara earlier, had joined their ranks. A row of seven green robed figures slowly started to approach the travelers and the general.  
"Where is Toph when you need her?" Zuko suddenly heard Katara mumbling next to him and he smiled curtly before he whispered back: "Probably being subject to my uncle's other secret plans. It's a good thing they are all here, though. That means they must have left their posts and they can't fix the wrong commands we've given to their troops."

The three of them turned their backs towards each other as the seven Dai Li agents slowly closed the circle around them and slowly came closer. Then Katara suddenly caught a glance being exchanged between the agents and the next moment fourteen rock gloves were flying towards them. In an instant Katara had surrounded the three of them with a wall of ice and the gloves with a loud crack clashed with the frozen water.  
"The Water Princess is an excellent warrior," the general commented on a hugely impressed tone as Katara melted down the wall. The gloves powerlessly fell onto the bluestone floor.  
"A thing I admire greatly," Zuko said quietly as he readied himself to protect Katara as soon she would call back the water. The general for a moment looked from one Young War Hero to another and a hint of a smile lit up his green eyes. "As you should."

Zuko fixed his gaze on Katara and the moment she lifted her hand, with a powerful movement drawing back the water. A burning ring of fire then suddenly surrounded the three, making the Dai Li step back for a moment. Zuko glanced at the grim looking waterbender and earthbender.  
"When I say 'now', the fire will extinguish and we will attack," he instructed the others and Katara for a moment looked at him, the wind encircling the fire blowing through their hair as the flames made her large eyes seem to burn. She nodded slowly.  
"Now!"  
With one swift movement Zuko let extinguish the fire and aiming a new bolt of fire at the three Dai Li agents, fate had posted in front of him.  
The rustling sound of whirling water sounded next to him as Katara's two agents were fought back by an enormous whirlpool trapping them inside before it broke against the walls.

The next few minutes were a blur to Katara. Next to her Zuko used all of his agility and skill to defeat the three Dai Li agents attacking him as she fought back the two attacking her, while the general showed an impressive skill in earthbending. She had noticed the man was dressed as a general from the Council of Five and he had addressed Zuko first before giving him the dagger with which the captain had threatened him. The ivory dagger, she had seen. Zuko's dagger.

Columns of rocks were being raised as both the Dai Li agents and the general tried to rise above the other and dominate the fight, sending boulders flying towards the others.  
When Katara saw the first ones flying in her direction she immediately sent out a fierce water ribbon, grabbed a hold on the rock and started to spin around, letting countless arms of her water octopus throw the rocks at the Dai Li agents surrounding them. It earned her a brief brilliant smile from Zuko and wordlessly he added his own fire whips to the now evolving octopus, circling magnificently around the water whips.

However, they were slowly but inevitably forced back to the stairs, overwhelmed by the supremacy of the Dai Li agent's numbers.  
"Katara," she heard Zuko whisper next to her and she turned her head to see him gazing at her intensely, "can you reach the rain outside?"  
Please tell me you can, his golden eyes begged her silently, I've seen you do it before.  
She nodded slowly. "I'll try."  
Closing her eyes Katara started to concentrate on the call of the water running down the thundering dark night sky, when she suddenly heard a sharp hiss next to her, as Zuko's hand unexpectedly grabbed hers and another thunder rumbled through the air.

Startled she opened her eyes and saw the Dai Li agents pull back from the stairs. What…?  
That's when she saw them. Seven tall, young men, dressed in dark blue, the pale complexion of their handsome features lighting up in the dim green light in the hall, their gleaming ink-black hair pulled back in a topknot. Unnoticed by the Dai Li they had appeared on the balustrade above and now jumped down lightly, as their light brown and golden gazes, a wisdom above their young years in their thoughtful expressions, stayed fixed on the agents, then approached them carefully, surrounding them.  
One Dai Li agent suddenly jumped forward as he lifted his hands to summon a rock column when one of the mysterious young men shot a bolt of fire at him.  
Katara sharply drew in her breath. "The Princess's vassals," she whispered in shock as the general looked from her to Zuko, a wary expression in his eyes.  
Zuko nodded, equally bewildered. "Seven of them."

"Put down your hands. You have dared to raise them against members of our Society and we will not tolerate that," the young man slowly spoke, his slanted light brown eyes stern, as he with an elegant movement let his fire extinguish. However, he avoided looking at the travelers who now distanced himself from the stairs.  
The Dai Li seemed to consider the new situation, then one of them said mockingly: "I don't know who you are and where you're from, but you've chosen the wrong fight to get involved in. I warn you to step back and don't interfere with Earth Kingdom business…. Water Tribe warriors."  
A disdainful expression momentarily passed over the vassal's face before he answered. "It's not very wise for a Dai Li agent to not know the White Lotus Society when he sees it, for the Order caused the downfall of the Dai Li in Ba Sing Se. And in your second observation you're wrong too."  
He barely noticeable nodded to the other vassals and a suddenly an enormous ring of fire engulfed the Dai Li agents who jumped back in fear. "We've not only come to the aid of respected members of the Order. We're here to defend the Lord of our nation."

The next moment a column of rock rose from inside the ring of fire with all seven Dai Li agents standing on it, before they jumped off and attacked the seven members of the White Lotus Society. Streaks of dark blue and dark green took turns as the agents and vassals fought fiercely, bursts of fire followed by rock waves and vice versa.  
Suddenly, one of the vassals broke out of his fight and hurried towards Zuko, throwing something at him. In a reflex Zuko caught it and was met with the familiar scabbard holding his twin broad swords. For a moment his eyes met with an almost revering expression in a pair of light brown eyes, before the young man's features turned impassive again and he turned around, warding off a stone glove.

Throughout the city, sounds could be heard of the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation soldiers taking in the city successfully as the general turned around, his expression hurried. "Quick. You have to go the harbor. There the Princess has the disposal of as much water as she needs and Commander Jee will be waiting for you."  
He followed their doubting gazes towards the Order members fighting the Dai Li. "Please hurry up. We will take care of the Dai Li agents, there are more important things for you to do. Now go!"

"That's the second time you make a mistake in judgment, General," a pleasant baritone voice suddenly spoke up from behind the general and he turned around, his face darkening. On the balustrade stood an eighth Dai Li agent, his hand loosely draped over the railing as a mocking smile hardened his handsome features. Despite his calm demeanor, he seemed furious at the sight of his agents engaged in battle with the White Lotus Society.  
"Dai Li group leader Weiting," he said grimly, "we meet again."  
Weiting nodded slowly. "How are you today, General… Or must I say, Governor? Does your current position suit you? Of course we did what was best for Ba Sing Se…"

He slowly walked down the stairs and unhurriedly approached the general, until he halted in front of him, his hands folded in his long sleeves.  
"The Dai Li have destroyed me," the general said on a low voice, "Prince Iroh handled my defeat with military honor, but the Dai Li… they took everything from me." He closed his eyes. "You were there, when the outer wall fell."  
"I was," the leader of Senlin Harbor admitted pleasantly. "And it gave me the opportunity of recommending the proper punishment for this grave error. I have to say it took quite some effort to convince Long Feng of the necessity of your banishment and shrinking back the Council of Six. Long Feng was too careful. He didn't want to have the Council setting the Earth King against him. And now…"

He stepped back and immediately a wave of rocks lifted the ground under their feet, as another set of rocks were send flying towards them. The general stepped in front of Zuko and Katara, who had taken a stance.  
"No. This is my fight. Please," he turned to gaze over his shoulder but the leader of Senlin Harbor started to laugh. It was the first time Katara had heard him laugh openly, a mean laugh, sinking into the sounds of battle surrounding them.  
"You can't defeat me, General, and I honestly am not interested in your feelings of revenge. I've come to collect my prisoners and that's what I will do."  
He turned his gaze to the young people standing behind the older general, a serene expression on their faces as they slid into stance.  
"So much for hypnosis, right?" The leader scoffed as his eyes wandered over the young Fire Lord.  
The next moment they were defending themselves against the swift attacks from the leader of Senlin Harbor.

The general watched in awe as the Young War Heroes exchanged one look and warded off the attacks, water was followed by swords cutting the stone, then collided with fire to create a thick fog. Seamlessly the Fire Lord and the Water Princess worked together, complementing each other's movements as well as using each other's movements to strengthen their own. The Fire Lord created huge walls of fire which made the other Dai Li and the members of the Order look up in astonishment, as the Water Princess sent quick bolts of water at the leader of Senlin Harbor. Then she bent her knees a little, widening her arms in a flowing movement and before everyone knew what happened, the windows broke in a thousand glistening pieces raining down on the Dai Li agents and a wave of raindrops rushed inside to merge with her bending water. They were concentrated, they were astounding and they were beautiful . These were the Young War Heroes showing the real extension of their abilities, fighting in a symbiosis of the opposites.

Without having to say anything to each other, the travelers advanced toward the front door, behind which, on the courtyard, the earthbending soldiers were still fighting the battle group of pirates and smugglers. In a flash of a moment, Katara recognized the group. It was the first one she had visited in her Painted Lady disguise. The hypnosis command came to mind again.  
In an instant she had formed an elegant wave bringing her towards the roof and shouted: "Men of Senlin Harbor! The leader of Senlin Harbor would like to invite you to the education room… Now drop your swords!"  
As one, pupils dilated immediately and the men froze in their movements. The Earth Kingdom soldiers froze too, not understanding what happened. Zuko opened his mouth, but Katara, still standing on her roof, was quicker: "Earth Kingdom soldiers: disarm and capture them now!"  
Her clear voice sounded through the courtyard as she stood there, her distinguished dress fluttering around her lithe form, as the rain running down with more intensity plastered her curls to her face, her ocean blue eyes shining fiercely as she gazed down on the battle beneath her.

Zuko was awestruck. This was a side of Katara he never had witnessed before, but something inside him told him this wasn't the first time she took charge to lead a group of people in battle.  
Once, the Earth Kingdom boy, Haru, who was with them in the Western Air Temple, had mumbled something about Katara saving him and his father from a Fire Nation prison for earthbenders. It had earned Katara Haru's silent admiration and devotion, of which she had stayed oblivious.  
Zuko sometimes had caught Haru glancing at him as Katara once again had found a reason to lash out to him and to his utter confusion he had found the gaze to be somewhat envious.

"Of all people present here, she reacts the strongest to you," the earthbender once involuntary had said, when they were alone near the dying fire, as everyone else had gone to bed. It had sounded a bit sad, but also resigned as he stared into the glowing embers.  
"I know, I just wish she would leave me alone or accept that I've changed," Zuko had responded bitterly to the remark. Her rejection of him and her death threat still stung. Silently he knew he had hoped for the understanding she had showed him before, a kind of understanding Mai had been unable to show him. That's why he had smiled when she entered his room in the temple. Stupid. He should have known better than that. Didn't things always explode in his face?  
But Haru had only looked at him, with a thoughtful gaze in his gentle, green eyes before he stood up and took a few steps toward the temple. Then he had halted and after brief consideration he said: "You know, you must keep trying. Although he might look like it, the Avatar isn't the one she would turn to for support. There's something about you that draws her toward you, even if she hates you."

So much had changed since then and now he found himself standing at an Earth Kingdom courtyard amidst Earth Kingdom soldiers and lowlife as the soldiers came back to their senses and obeyed Katara's command. And as Katara made a slide to elegantly bring him up to the roof as well, he couldn't help but compare the passionate waterbender to the passive Mai. Mai would make for a perfect traditional Fire Lady, strong but invisible. Katara would be loved.

The circle of fighting men around the leader of Senlin Harbor had disappeared as Zuko resumed his position next to Katara.  
"You should have been with us in the Boiling Rock," he whispered to her, as he slightly bent over.  
She flashed him a quick smile, then closed her eyes and concentrated on the water behind the wall protecting the courtyard from the world outside.

Lifting her arms in an elegant movement, she then fixed her gaze on the leader of Senlin Harbor still standing below, whose face was contorted in rage as he understood who had sabotaged his city's defenses and came to the furious conclusion he had underestimated the young royalty. He took a stance, aiming at the wall the roof was resting on, when a dark, rumbling sound suddenly echoed throughout the city.  
The pouring rain and thunder shaking the earth added to the threatening sound and suddenly a glistening wave majestically lifted itself from the harbor behind the courtyard and towered over the Dai Li's house. A shocked gasp went through the people watching Katara stilling her hands as she held the wave motionless into the air. She left the leader a choice. The most powerful waterbender in the world now showed she could destroy this whole city if she wanted to.

Suddenly something flashed past Zuko and he heard a small gasp of agony beside him. He jerked his head toward Katara and watched in horror as a stone glove had secured itself around her neck. As she struggled to breathe, slowly suffocating, she slowly lowered her arms making sure the wave wouldn't accidentally fall down on the harbor, then clawed at the stone squeezing shut her throat.  
From the courtyard, Weiting looked up, a satisfied smile appearing on his features. He felt smug with having discovered and almost broken, the strongest of the two benders.  
Zuko's vision blurred.

The ripping sound of thunder above their heads echoed across the sky and throughout the city as everyone fighting in the streets suddenly looked up to the young man with jet black hair plastered to his face made a slow movement with his arms and said on a dangerously low voice: "Let her go. Now."  
"Or else…? I will have broken her delicate little neck the moment your fire reaches me… Your Majesty."  
"Or else you will have died before you have the chance to beg for your life. Now. Let. Her. Go."

In response the leader of Senlin Harbor grinned and a small groan escaped from Katara as the glove around her neck tightened. Her hands helplessly tried to pull away the stone fingers as her widened eyes stared in horror at Zuko standing next to her. The same look she had given him two years ago when she had seen a bolt of lightning rush toward her. She wouldn't last long.  
A furious scowl appeared on Zuko's face as he realized his fire wasn't quick enough for it to reach Weiting on the courtyard below, before he would have broken her neck.

This couldn't be happening. He could not bear losing Katara too. Especially Katara, whose gaze now seemed to become clouded as her hands stopped fighting the stone glove. He closed his eyes in agony and took a deep breath, sighing fire on the exhale. He didn't hear the shocked reaction among the people below him as he opened his eyes again and a dangerous fire burned behind his golden gaze. He had controlled himself with his dragon's breathing.  
Motionlessly he fixed his gaze on the leader below, then in the blink of an eye slid into stance and stretched two fingers from his fist. And as the thunder crackled to the sky again, a stream of blinding, blue lightning shot from Zuko's fingers.

A ragged breath was taken in next to Zuko and he spun around to see Katara fall on the ground, her fingers grabbing her throat as she coughed violently. Immediately he was near her, wrapping his arms around her as he pulled her against him, expressions of relief and desperation taking turns on his face. His mind could barely process what had happened.  
"Lightning, he shot lightning," he heard whispering from below and he closed his eyes as he pulled Katara more tightly against his chest, taking in her fresh scent of water lilies. He had been so frightened, so terrified to lose her and something, anything had clicked inside his consciousness. He had found his balance. And he had found it in the young woman he loved. Katara.  
"Shush, Katara. It's over. You can breathe now," he whispered as he laid his cheek on her drenched hair.  
"Is… is… he…," she brought out with difficulty, her throat burning as she tried to speak.

"No, he isn't," a deep voice said from a little distance. The general had taken position before Weiting and looked down in disdain on the leader of Senlin Harbor. Zuko had aimed for the wall behind Weiting and the lightning had skimmed along him, crumbling down the wall. That was the moment the general had stepped forward and avoided the leader being smashed by the falling rocks, instead imprisoning the leader in them, then chained his hands in iron handcuffs.  
For a moment the general looked up, heavily impressed. "The Fire Lord has pointed the lightning at the wall. He is truly a noble and merciful man."  
"It's not possible…" the leader of Senlin Harbor whispered, his gaze fixed on the silhouette of the two benders on the roof. "The Fire Lord has never been able to create lightning…"

Katara slowly regained consciousness and felt Zuko scooping her in his arms before he carried her down a rough rock staircase the general had created. Then he gently put her down as Katara with a dazed look gazed at the stilled people surrounding them, looking at Zuko in awe.  
But Zuko ignored them and instead helped Katara who tried to stand up now. He gently wiped strands of hair plastered to her skin, out of her face and wrapped a strong arm around her waist. Turning his back on the leader of Senlin Harbor he started to head for the house. "General, he's all yours."

That was the signal the vassals of the Spirit Princess had been waiting for. With a few fiery movements they brought down the seven Dai Li agents and stepped back. One of them nodded curtly to the earthbending troops who started to disarm the unconscious Dai Li agents.  
A small stripe of grayish light appeared at the eastern horizon as the rain slowly stopped falling and the thunderstorm drifted into the hinterland. In the rest of the city the sounds of the invading troops securing their positions could be heard.  
The night was almost over. Senlin Harbor had been defeated.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness!" An agitated voice suddenly echoed through the street as a group of Fire Nation soldiers came running around the corner, led by the Black Clock who, with no warning, suddenly halted when he saw them standing, the soldiers bumping in to him as he fell over.  
Despite her painful throat Katara smiled at the sight of all of those uptight soldiers being stopped by the small man, an insignificant thief who they normally would have arrested but turned out to be the reason for their Fire Lord's survival.  
As soon as the soldiers had scrambled up, scowling at the clumsy thief, they fell onto their knees again, kowtowing to the ground when they saw the Fire Lord standing before them, almost unrecognizable in his muddy Earth Kingdom robes.

"I'm so glad to see you two!" The Black Clock called and his piercing, intelligent gaze immediately checked them on visible wounds. "And almost without a scratch." His gaze for a moment lingered on the Water Princess's neck.  
Zuko smiled curtly but friendly at the Order's member. "Black Clock, you have my deepest gratitude for bringing my message to Commander Jee. I'm very glad to see you've succeeded. Thank you."  
And as the soldiers looked up secretly to see if they could get up again, their mouths fell open in astonishment saw the Fire Lord make a curt bow towards the worthless thief who had dragged them all through the city, panicking when he couldn't find the Fire Lord anywhere.  
"Zuko," Katara whispered weakly to her friend, nodding towards the crouching Fire Nation soldiers and he smiled in embarrassment. He cleared his throat. "You can get up now, soldiers of the Eastern Fleet."

The soldiers' group leader hesitantly came forward. "Your Majesty, Commander Jee has requested for your presence with the Eastern Fleet. We would be honored to accompany you to his ship."  
"That won't be possible," a quiet but stern voice suddenly cut in and one of the Spirit Princess's vassals stepped forward. He shot a piercing gaze at the Black Clock who flinched and took a step back. "The Fire Lord and the Water Princess have a duty to fulfill towards the White Lotus Society, so they have to leave Senlin Harbor immediately."

He turned towards Zuko and Katara, a revering expression momentarily passing over his handsome features before turning serious again. "You must head for Taku and there you will come to know where to find the Spirit Princess."  
"But…" Katara started hoarsely and Zuko immediately took over: "Can't we follow you? You will head back for my mo… the Spirit Princess for certain."  
The young Fire Nation noble for a moment looked at him silently then said: "That's not how it's written in the stars."  
He turned towards the Black Clock. "Thank you for helping the Fire Lord on his quest. Now you only have one more thing to do." He pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket, giving it to Katara. "With the compliments of our Princess, Your Highness," he said softly, making the bow of the White Lotus for her. She stared down on the paper. It was her note from Uncle Iroh. It must have fallen out of her bag sometime.  
The vassal averted his gaze to the Black Clock again. "Tell them who you are and help them."

Then suddenly he took a few swift steps backwards and the next moment, he and his six companions had disappeared in the breaking dawn.  
Zuko slowly turned around and overlooked the street. The Earth Kingdom soldiers had put together the Dai Li and now surrounded them, waiting for their general to give the command and bring them to a nearby prison. The general took his place at the head of the group, then turned around surprised when a Shirshu suddenly jumped into the street, blocking the way for the general and his earthbenders.  
"Wait a minute. I haven't been dwelling in this city for weeks to not collect my bounty." Jun lithely slid off the enormous beast and positioned herself before the general. "Senlin Harbor leader Weiting please," she said.  
"So, not a part of this city after all?" Zuko inquired in mild mockery as he approached the bounty hunter, who laughed curtly. "Of course not. But walls have ears, cuty."

Zuko smiled back indulgently, but the general said: "The bounty on the leader of Senlin Harbor's head has been ensued by the governor of the westernmost province. Me."  
Jun slightly raised her eyebrows, then said: "I heard of your coming to the city."  
"And you must be the woman who brought the maps to Senlin Village," the general presumed, "then I will gladly acknowledge the leader of Senlin Harbor being brought in by you."  
His green eyes then locked with Zuko's and a smile slowly started to spread across his face. He made a deep Earth Kingdom bow, to which Zuko responded with a Fire Nation one.

Relieved Katara and Zuko watched as the train with the imprisoned Dai Li agents, the Pirate Captain and the barker, slowly started to move and Katara wearily leaned her head against Zuko's shoulder when she felt his arm wrap around her shoulder. But then Weiting suddenly turned around and looked at them intently.  
"You may be satisfied you won. But you have only won this round. Word of the Fire Lord's capture has being brought to the Fire Nation… and word of the Princess's capture by the Fire Nation has been brought to the Water Tribes… The peace as you have established it will soon dissolve and that will be revenge enough for me."  
His green eyes lit up as he grinned meanly, then was pushed into the line again, leaving the travelers with a sudden fear in their hearts.

---

**A/N:** _At first I would like to thank all of you who have reviewed! I'm always so glad to hear when you love the story or particular sentences from it. It makes the writing worthwile. _

_I'm very tired now. This has become a monster chapter (which, I realize is terribly long to read) and I hoped I pulled it off. And then to know this has been 'only' the battle for Senlin Harbor. The future of the world is still at stake, with Katara hesitating about her feelings toward Zuko and them not having found his mother yet. But now the grim atmosphere of Senlin Harbor is almost left behind, I will be able to lighten the mood somewhat. And don't worry, the story wil know some quiet moments too._

_The chapter has a double title, because of the two prompts from this week and last week so I guess the title has become like the movie ;-)._

_This week's music I like because of the rhythm of the base._

_Suspecting that most of you are Zutarians like me, I would like to recommend a (fantasy)book to you, I've just finished reading. It's the first part of a trilogy and the second part will be available in October 2009. The book I'm talking about is called A Woman Worth Ten Coppers (part 1 in the Shadowed Path trilogy), by Morgan Howell (who is, in fact, male). The language is a bit plain here and there but the story is enthralling. And the Zutara parallels are stunning. It's about a young woman called Yim who has a great destiny before her (she's a seer and a healer) but she's been captured and made a slave and is bought for ten coppers by a Sarf called Honus. A Sarf is a warrior of the temple, trained in the martial arts, of which testimony is tattooed on his face(!). His Bearer, a holy, older man who was his guide (uncle Iroh, anyone?) bore his pack for him, but he's slain and before he died he told Honus never to carry his own pack. Hence, the slave. Together they travel toward the south, both wanting to reach the temple of the godess of Balance, whose peace is being threatened by a dark god called The Devourer who thrives on violence and hatred, turning the lands into a wasteland. The relationship between Yim and Honus is slowly developed while they are on the road and Yim tries to hide from Honus who and what she is for real. A must-read for Zutarians!_

_Thanks for reading everyone and I hope you liked the chapter!_


	33. Rhythm

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 33: Rhythm**

Music: Danny Elfman, The Grand Finale (Edward Scissorhands)

"Appa!"  
Katara's joyous cry rang through the forests looming behind the former pirate city. With the breaking of dawn, it had stopped raining and the sky lit up in a cool blue color, contrasting to the red hues of the rising sun in the east.  
A peaceful quiet had descended on the city after the night's battle, and only the broken weapons left behind on the streets, reminded of the vicious fights having taken place there only a few hours before. The Black Clock had taken Zuko and Katara to the northern gate, as he had been planning on doing a few nights ago.  
Silently and worn out the Young War Heroes had followed the small thief and had been completely surprised by the sight of the enormous white bison, standing underneath the pine-trees. He was saddled and bridled, looking at them with a trustful gaze in his little eyes.  
Katara then ran for the enormous animal, hugging him tightly as she buried herself in his fluffy fur. It earned her a low rumble of approval from the flying bison.

"Is that the Avatar's bison?" The Black Clock asked as he took position next to Zuko who only nodded, his gaze not averting from the waterbender clinging to Appa, his gaze softening under her apparent happiness to see the drooling creature again. He made a mental note of thanking Jun for bringing Appa with her, when they were to meet again.

The Black Clock for a moment studied their weary faces and quietly cleared his throat, catching the Young War Heroes' attention. "May I see the paper in your pocket please, Your Highness?" He then asked the Water Princess, who handed him the tousled note. Then her gaze crossed Zuko's, a wary expression in their eyes, when the Black Clock bowed his head and squinted his eyes. They both had heard the words the Spirit Princess's vassal had spoken to the thief after he had given back Katara her note.

"You can read it?" Katara asked incredulously and the Black Clock smiled a little wryly as he narrowed his eyes to read Uncle Iroh's scribbles in the margin.  
"It's been long since I've seen the language of the white lotus being used. Far too long," he mumbled as he let his fingers glide across the blackened characters, ignoring Katara's question. "The Grandmaster's ways are inscrutable. Brilliant of course, but inscrutable. A song…"' He shook his head. "The language of the white lotus is an ancient tongue. I had the opportunity of learning it while studying one of its descendents; the ancient language of the Fire Nation…." He looked up and his piercing light brown eyes seemed to glow, "…. Back when I was a servant to the Fire Temple."

Zuko suddenly drew in a sharp breath. "The Fire Temple! It can't be… You were… A Fire Sage?"  
"A Fire Sage?" Katara looked from Zuko to the Black Clock with widened eyes in bewilderment. "Like the ones on Crescent Moon Island?"  
"Exactly like the ones on Crescent Moon Island. Once I was a part of that same congregation, charged with the protection of the Avatar's Temple."  
For a moment Zuko and Katara were silent, only staring at the small, older man as they tried to picture him in Fire Sage attire.

"What happened?" Katara then softly asked. "I can't remember you being one of the Sages present in the temple when Aang… when Roku destroyed it."  
A bitter smile for a moment hardened the Black Clock's face, cursing his luck being forced to remember his painful past. "That's because I wasn't there at that time anymore. Like I said, studying the ancient language of the Fire Nation as a Fire Sage, provided me with the opportunity to secretly learn the language of the white lotus, believing this was the proper way to serve the Avatar's temple. But his ways were forsaken and my efforts to learn the old language were discovered. I was sentenced to death. Members of the Order, however, somehow must have learned about my fate, because the night before I was to die, I was provided with a possibility to escape. I ended up at the high cliffs with underneath me the raging sea, surrounded by cloaked and hooded people, who wouldn't reveal their identities to me. Before I was pushed into the sea, one of the mysterious people setting me free gave me a message. When I would be washed ashore in the Earth Kingdom, I was to become a member of the White Lotus Society and live in Senlin Harbor… In Senlin Harbor I took on the name of Black Clock and kept my promise."

He averted his gaze from a speechless Katara to Zuko, who seemed to contemplate something. The Black Clock again shook his head. "I'm not one of the Fire Sages who came to Sozin to teach you when you were little. Only the most loyal sages were chosen to teach the royal family."  
"You mean, the most frightening sages," Zuko mumbled and shuddered at the memory. Suddenly Katara felt that her image of Zuko's lessons in the Fire Nation ancient language might not be as far from the truth as she could have thought.  
Some humor sparkled in the older man's eyes. "You're right, they were never the most lively ones, but it least you have learned the language, although you were probably motivated out of fear more than out of interest."

Zuko only curtly nodded. "But it hasn't brought us any further though, since I could only translate the character for summer and Katara the one standing for winter. We've been told by Master Pakku it's a song and apparently it's a quite common one…"  
"And how many songs do you know with those two seasons brought together in one song?" The Black Clock inquired, an expectant look in his eyes.  
"Too many," Zuko grumbled after a moment of thought. "You have to blame my uncle for that."  
The Black Clock sighed. "Alright. I guess as the chosen ones who have seen the white lotus, your fates are being intertwined with the Order now, you'll have to learn the language and figure out the message yourselves. However, I will provide you with the key."

---

"I can't tell you how much I've missed this." Katara closed her eyes and let the wind caress her face as from the east a hesitant early winter sun started to rise, casting a soft glow on the bison being steered along the high cliffs and endless pine-woods. She had settled in Zuko's embrace, now leaning her back against his chest as she felt him pull the reins slightly to let Appa describe a gentle curve in the morning sky.  
A small smile softened Zuko's serious expression. He felt the same relief being away from the cramped city and the frightening atmosphere, having left instructions for Commander Jee and the Eastern Fleet to get in touch with the Earth Kingdom governor to make Senlin Harbor into a normal port town again. Only when flying on Appa, surrounded by the cool air and with Katara in his arms, he felt like he could truly breathe again.

Now Zuko was leading them toward the place where they finally hoped to learn more about his mother's whereabouts; the demolished city of Taku. The city had been destroyed in the initial wave of attacks from the Fire Nation, almost a hundred years ago and people still avoided the place. The only eyes now looking down on the ruins, were those of the herbalist and her cat Miyuki. This was the place where the Black Clock had been meaning to send them to. The place where the Spirit Princess's vassal had send them to.

Katara sleepily looked down on the pale pair of hands wrapped around the reins in a strong and experienced hold, the gold signet ring on Zuko's right hand sometimes blinding her eyes when it caught and reflected the light of the early morning sun. She smiled. A thief the Black Clock may have been, but she had been right after all to expect more of the man, a member of the White Lotus Society in a city of pirates.  
The last thing she thought before she fell asleep in Zuko's comfortable hold, was what unexpected turns someone's life could take, the Black Clock now being a thief and member of the White Lotus Society but once a highly revered Fire Sage, and how the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, once being hunted and called peasant by the present Fire Lord, now couldn't think of any place better to fall asleep than in that very man's arms, shielded from the morning chill by his protective hold. A smile softened her weary face when she drifted away.

---

"Aang, Toph, wake up," an old, dragging voice gently pulled them out of their sleep. Two pairs of eyes groggily opened, for a moment blinking unseeingly as Toph and Aang tried to regain consciousness.  
"Get dressed and be in my study in half an hour." The older man cast a last, almost tender glance at the two Young War Heroes lying on the futon completely entangled in each other's limbs and smiled when a sigh simultaneously escaped them. They had never been early risers.

When Toph and Aang entered the small study half an hour later, Uncle Iroh turned around and Aang could see the statue of the grinning monkey on his desk. The ruby eyes caught the light of the morning sun and the black wood gleamed softly. For a moment it seemed as if he heard the faint echo of an cackling laugh coming from the hideous statue, then Uncle Iroh fixed his golden gaze on them. Aang felt Toph's hand tightening around his own and he stepped closer, silently putting her at ease her with his presence.  
"I'm glad you two made up with each other," Uncle Iroh then spoke up, his piercing gaze catching the faint blush creeping to both the young people's cheeks. Their kiss had not gone by unnoticed. A small smile lit up the older man's wrinkled features.

"Well then. Is it correct of me to suppose the journey to the Spirit World is back on?"  
Aang and Toph took their seats and nodded dejectedly.  
"What convinced you?" Uncle Iroh put his elbows on his knees and rest his chin on his hands, looking at them thoughtfully.  
Aang cleared his throat. "The lost pages of the prophecy," he said softly. His eyes crossed Uncle Iroh's questioning gaze.  
"What did you read in them?" The Grandmaster then carefully asked.  
"Not much, but enough," Aang replied seriously. "Enough to understand you're not the only one trying to control our fates for the purpose of saving your Society. Enough to understand it's been predicted before that Katara and Zuko had to go on this journey together. Enough to understand there's something the Spirit World wants me to understand and therefore the spirits require Toph's presence in their world." He bowed his head.  
"And what about your fear of losing her?" Iroh's sharp words demanded an acknowledgment through the gentle, understanding tone of his voice.  
Aang for a moment said nothing, then replied on a low voice: "I've come to the realization that doing nothing is what is going to make me lose her." His hand grabbed Toph's more firmly. "I have to face whatever is threatening her in the Spirit World."  
Uncle Iroh straightened his back. "Then it's time."

---

Two nights and two days Katara and Zuko flew without pause, halting just once to let Appa drink, before continuing on their journey. Realization had dawned to them how much time they had lost in Senlin Harbor and winter caught up with them.  
Zuko also had felt the danger behind Weiting's last words. Word of Senlin Harbor's defeat would reach the Fire Nation for sure, but the rebellious nobles had sensed their chance: the Fire Lord, although having been set free again, still wasn't back at the palace to take control. And that put him in a very vulnerable position. He fiercely wished they would find his mother very soon now and could only hope his uncle and Prime-Minister used their wisdom well to govern the country while he was away.  
And then there was the message being send to the Southern Water Tribe. Zuko sighed softly as he felt Katara snuggling into him, while passing on the reins to him. Katara in a short amount of time had become the world to him, had become one of the main reasons he wanted to save the world. And he knew she had been the reason he finally had succeeded in producing lightning. He knew he would never, ever hurt Katara, but what about her family? Would Hakoda really believe what was written in that poisonous letter, after the conversation he had with him? Would Sokka?

***

Dark shadows had formed under Katara and Zuko's eyes as they sat on Appa's head, seeing the sun going down for the third time since they had left Senlin Harbor. Katara was now holding the reins and Zuko had wrapped his arms around her stomach.  
"We're almost there," Zuko said hoarsely, rubbing his bad eye in vain against the stinging exhaustion. His travelling companion only looked at him with an empty gaze in her ocean blue eyes, indicating she had heard him and acknowledged his words, but was too tired to answer to them. Fighting against the sleep they leaned against each other, as Appa flew towards the polar star now rising in the dark velvet sky.  
It was a quiet night like the two before, as if the thunderstorm in Senlin Harbor had been the last of the season, before winter came. Katara watched her breath coming out of her mouth in small clouds of steam, soon becoming unable to focus on just that, as the cold wind played with her loose braid and her eyelids slowly started to fall shut.

That was the moment a low groan went through Appa's body and the two people sitting on his head shot up straight, their eyes opening wide immediately. There, far below them, a silver river run into the endless ocean, as the cliffs seemed to lower and retreat to reveal the remaining of a once mighty harbor. Now only ruins of impressive statues and a crumbled quay remembered of the busy harbor this place once was, a faint echo of a glorious past.  
Then the flying bison described a turn, understanding their goal as the reins lay useless in Katara's hands. The weary travelers' eyes locked as a smile lit up their exhausted features. "Taku!"

---

"Aang," Uncle Iroh asked as he stood up, his rich green robes rustling as he started to walk around. "How do you get into the Spirit World?"  
The young Avatar looked up. "I go into the Avatar State," he replied, a little surprised that Iroh would have to ask.  
But Uncle Iroh nodded thoughtfully. "Exactly. Since you are the Avatar, the Avatar State allows you to go freely into the Spirit World whenever you wish to. However," he turned around and looked at the young people sitting side by side and focused on Toph's empty gaze, "this is not how it works with Toph. She does not possess the spirit of the Avatar, nor is she a spirit. A human being like she is, normally can't enter the Spirit World even if the Avatar wants her to."  
Aang immediately closed his mouth he had opened, his face dejected as he looked at Toph who now frowned displeased.

"However…" Iroh went to stand before them and looked sternly at their hopeful expressions, "there is one way in which she actually can… She can go into the Spirit World if someone from the Spirit World would come for her."  
His features suddenly grew weary and he closed his eyes, when he took a seat again, being followed by Aang's grey eyes. "Iroh," he asked quietly, "how do you know about this?"  
The older man for a moment didn't react, then said with a sad smile: "I suppose Zuko never told you I visited the Spirit World once?"

The simultaneous sharp intakes of breath were answer enough to him. "Ah well, there wasn't much to tell for him anyway. But, as I said, I did visit the Spirit World once, shortly after I left the siege of Ba Sing Se…"

He smiled a sad smile when his eyes crossed Aang and Toph's understanding gazes. "The spirit who had come for me was my son Lu Ten. For this journey it isn't of much importance what I've been through before I learned of this way or what my beloved Lu Ten and I have spoken about while I was there, but after I left the Spirit World I was reconciled to his death and I gained the gift of seeing things from the Spirit World moving around in our own world. Yes," he smiled at Aang who had widened his eyes in shock, "I did see you that day you and Roku past me by on his dragon."

He sat down again and put his hand on the statue of the grinning monkey. "There's one more thing I've learned. The Spirit World has put a few rare… artifacts into this world, creating ways to communicate with this side of our world. When on my travels with Zuko, I luckily came across such an artifact and I immediately recognized it for what it was; a way to the Monkey King."  
"The Monkey King," both and Aang and Toph gasped.  
Uncle Iroh nodded. "Lucky for me, the pirates selling me the statue only valued its worth on the quality of the wood and the rubies in its eyes," his gaze passed over the mean grinning monkey critically, "that must be all there is to it, because otherwise it's a very ugly statue."  
A sudden relieved sigh coming from the Young War Heroes made Uncle Iroh look up in surprise, as Toph mouthed: "Finally!" to Aang, who snorted.  
And Iroh smiled.

---

Katara groaned softly when her stiff feet made contact with the soft and damp woodland soil. Next to her Zuko equally contorted his face when he landed on the ground as well. The fight in Senlin Harbor had taken all of their strength, immediately followed by three days and nights in which they had been sitting still on a bison's head, their tired muscles stiffening to the point where every movement reminded them of their soreness.

Appa had landed somewhat up-country to where the ruins of Taku lay behind the harbor. Zuko looked around, his gaze scanning the hilly environment, overgrown with large, old trees and moss. One hill was higher than the rest and it seemed like a faint path, abandoned and neglected, led up that hill. He nodded to Katara, who followed his gaze.  
Silently she slid her hand into his and with the other hand he took Appa's reins.

That's when the drums started to sound. It was a soft sound, low and somehow ominous, the vibrations muffled by the fog hanging low between the branches. Frightened Zuko and Katara looked at each other, rooted to their spot as their ears slowly started to make out a certain rhythm to the sound. The rhythm was irregular and somehow felt melancholic as the bangs endlessly followed each other.  
"I know this rhythm," Zuko whispered, daring to speak at last.  
"I feel like it has something to do with us," Katara added softly and both of them acknowledged in surprise the truth behind her words as they vanished in the thick air of the ancient forest and only the sound of the drums filled the air again.

Silently they started to climb the hill and looked down on the overgrown road below them, leading towards the ruins of the once powerful city of Taku, the former riches and wealth still showing from the delicately ornamented crumbled down buildings and statues.  
And while above them the stars sparkled softly in the dark sky, a pair of old, golden eyes saw two figures appear at what once was the city's entrance, their Earth Kingdom army cloaks softly billowing in the wind, bringing with them a huge white bison as they were accompanied by the ominous sound of ancient drums.  
These were no ordinary Earth Kingdom soldiers.

---

**A/N:** _Hello everyone and OMG, I'm so glad you liked previous chapter so much! I was really worried, but I was overjoyed with your reactions!! Thank you for loving the story so much, and last chapter in particular. Thank you, Insane Muse (I'm very glad you liked Toph's reaction) and Diabolical Kitsutora (yes, I sometimes want to write Zutara when I mean Katara or Zuko too) for your lengthly comments and thank you Sweet-Impact, Zukoluver45 and Midnight Wolfy for wanting the story to be known with the creators of Avatar. It really makes me blush. Also I want to thanks all of you who found the story as epic as I intend it to be and all of you who loved the fighting scenes. With the fighting scenes it's been the first time I have made a plan for the story to make them happen. And all of you who have pointed out some mistakes in grammar and spelling: thank you very much: I've changed it. Some of you also asked about the duration of the story what with Weiting having thrown another diplomatic problem into the already complicated situation. Although I think most of you won't be very glad to hear it, every good story not only has a beginning, but also an ending and the original focus will remain with Zuko and Katara trying to save the Order of the White Lotus, while searching for Zuko's mother. The reference to Weiting having send that message to the Southern Water Tribe is needed for the story, but not to create another problem bringing the story out of balance. It will be cleared up soon ;-)._

_This chapter I have made a little tranquil, in contrast to previous chapters. What's very important, is that Uncle Iroh has revealed how he has managed to get into the Spirit World many years ago. And the grinning monkey statue appears to have its value after all!_

_The drums in the song are following a rhythm from a real song in Avatar, the travelers have to discover._

_And again I've used a track from Edward Scissorhands to go with this chapter. The Grand Finale: it couldn't be more beautiful._


	34. Thieves

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 34: Thieves**

Music: Albert Ketèlbey, In a Monastery Garden

With a rustling sound the leaves were blown through the ancient streets of Taku, as the moon cast a silvery light on the crumbled down settlement. In the course of time plants had further broken down what was left of the rich architecture and moss resting on the old stones, mysteriously glowed in the moon light. Sometimes, the wind would blow a cloud past the pale moon and the gleaming city for moments would be covered in darkness, only to rise again in the astounded viewer's sight.  
As the two figures had appeared in the city's entrance, the sound of the drums coming from the woods grew stronger and stronger, then suddenly fell quiet.  
The wrinkled eyes warily followed the two figures as they made a step forward, then collapsed on top of the hill.

The clear sound of a robin-blackbird singing his lonely song, brought Katara back to consciousness, her mind coming to rest after the restless and frightening dreams she had endured, following the deep nothing she had fallen into.

In her dreams she had relived the terrifying moments in which she countless of times saw the stone glove flying towards her, then tightening its hold around her neck. Again she felt her stomach drop upon seeing the horror in Zuko's eyes, only to see the Pirate Captain rise up behind the young man, then lashing out to him. Then, it felt like she was pulled out of the spiral of events involving the most frightful events of the battle for Senlin Harbor.  
The raging fire and whirling water around her slowly disappeared to the background, as her feet softly landed upon a bed of fragrant fire lilies, her hair gently falling on her shoulders as the hems of her dark blue silk dress came to rest against her delicate ankles.  
Everything grew quiet around her, only the endless sea of fire lilies near her feet and a few white clouds in the clear blue sky above her seemed to move in an invisible breeze.  
Then a soft whisper, full of regret, echoed against invisible boundaries. "Katara… Tara… Tara… I'm sorry…"  
Heaving her head, Katara quietly listened, a thoughtful expression in her ocean blue eyes, knowing she recognized the voice, although she couldn't depict the owner. The words somehow relieved her and she smiled.  
That was the moment a hand slipped into hers and as she looked up to meet Zuko's intense gaze, the sound of the robin-blackbird's song pulled her back to another level of consciousness.

Now, she slowly became aware of the smell of the fresh linen her face rested on, as her body appeared to lie on what appeared to be some sort of futon.  
With a doubtful movement, she lifted her arm and put her hand on her forehead. Slowly she let herself fall on her back as she tried to remember where she was and what had happened.  
For a minute she stared at a high ceiling, where lush carvings of pomegranates decorated the ancient bows. Then she became aware of the sweet, musk like scent of fire lilies filling the air in the huge space around her.  
A soft sound of little steps caught her attention and Katara rolled her head to the side to come eye to eye with a fluffy white creature, touching her hand curiously with its sensitive nose, followed by a light "meow."

Behind the small creature, a soft groan sounded, then a husky voice said drowsily: "Miyuki."

---

Toph woke with a sigh, opening her sightless eyes to the new morning. The feeling coming back into her limps detected the arms wrapped around her as usual, but it felt different somehow. Less… contorted. Motionlessly she lay in Aang's hold as she tried to grasp the change in Aang's peacefully resting form and her own unusual relaxation. A completely different feeling from the weeks of waking up tiredly, her sleep being disturbed every night by the intensifying nightmares.  
Toph's eyes widened. The nightmares. She couldn't remember having had one this night. At one moment she had flown on Appa through the chilly night sky, to land on the Eastern Air Temple. After the momentary feeling of freedom, she had felt lonely, but when she turned around to sense the Earth Kingdom far below a gush of wind made her step back, upon which a hand gently took a hold on her own. She had felt relieved having him by her side. Together they had sat under the starlit heavens.

Aang slightly stirred as he woke up, wanting to hold on to the feeling of peace and quiet filling his dreams. He felt strange. He remembered the dreams starting with the familiar feeling of losing Toph and the panic surging through his body, as his thoughts guiltily went out to Katara, his mind screaming apologizes as he turned towards Toph. That was the moment when suddenly a feeling of relief pierced through his cocoon of panic and guilt. A feeling of relief that was alien to him, coming from someone different than himself. And as he turned around towards Toph, he saw a glimpse of Katara standing bare foot in a field of fire lilies, looking at him, through him, with unseeing eyes. She extended a hand to someone invisible to Aang.  
The same moment his vision of Katara had disappeared, only to reveal the moonlit silhouette of Toph, waiting for him at the Eastern Air Temple, the place where earth and air met.  
His sleep had been tranquil like it hadn't been for weeks.

---

Blinking against the sun hanging low in the sky, Katara and Zuko stepped outside the large hall, leaving behind their futons in the dusky space. Their breaths escaped from their mouth in icy clouds as they let their eyes wander across the majestic ruins of the former port town stretching out beneath them. Dew sparkled on the moss in the soft winter light giving the rocks covered by the green blanket a melancholy look.  
"So, we've reached Taku after all," Katara established softly, her hand clasping her warm, woolen cloak.  
"Indeed you have," an old voice spoke up behind the two travelers and a woman, hunched from old age appeared in their view. She wore a dress in pale, green colors and a gigantic silver topknot crowned her head.  
"Miyuki told me I could find you here," she said, her wrinkled golden eyes thoughtfully passing over her guests. "It's good to see you've woken up. If it wasn't for the arrow headed animal, I wouldn't have been able to get you two into the house. You had suffered such exhaustion, you just collapsed near the entrance of the city. The animal is safe," she added upon seeing Katara's reaction. "He's found a lawn to graze in the city downhill."

"Thank you very much for your help." Zuko made a Fire Nation bow to express his gratitude and the old woman slightly turned towards Zuko, a searching gaze in her old eyes.  
"And it appeared that the male of the two warriors has recognized my Miyuki." Her eyes slightly narrowed as she put her head in her neck to look up at the tall young man.  
Zuko immediately felt her gaze scanning across his scar, partly hidden behind his loose black strands. "Just as I thought. You were here two years ago, riding on this…"  
"Shirshu," Zuko added helpfully, regretting the woman's old age hadn't made her forget the incident, but the old woman smiled. "I was right then. You two are no normal Earth Kingdom soldiers."

"That's right," Katara now said. "We aren't. My name is Katara and I'm Water Tribe and Zuko here is Fire Nation. The Earth Kingdom robes were forced upon us by Dai Li agents in Senlin Harbor and the cloaks are a gift from the general and governor of the westernmost province who aided to our rescue. We're members of the White Lotus Society, seeking to save it."  
The old woman's eyes began to sparkle. "My my, haven't you been through a lot? Well, I hope you'll be able to get some rest at the silent city of Taku. For forty years I'm the Herbalist in the Herbalist Institute, providing medicine for wounded Earth Kingdom troops and you've already met with Miyuki. I hope you enjoy your stay in Taku. It's very beautiful, but you should have seen it when it was still a thriving city. It could compete with Omashu in beauty. In fact, the city often was called Omashu of the north."

The white cat followed them from a little distance, when the travelers and the Herbalist walked to the Institute's green house and the floral scent thickened. Inside they stood still, astounded.  
Through the many windows the light of the late autumn sun poured in, illuminating countless of flowers in all shades of red, purple, pink, yellow and blue growing in pots and creeping along the wood holding together the glass walls, showering the travelers with soft petals of flowers which normally wouldn't blossom now, or at least not at this altitude. There were countless types of jasmine, orchids and lilies, lots and lots of lilies.  
"It's beautiful," Katara whispered as she carefully took a magenta trumpet flower into her delicate hands and looked at the paling color surrounding a yellow heart.  
"The green house was even more beautiful when it still had its door. One night it's been stolen by thieves, the door with the pomegranate carvings." The old woman shook her head as Zuko and Katara looked at each other in shock, then nodded determinedly. After their journey had come to an end, they would see the Herbalist would get her door back.

"It's been long since someone visited this green house," the Herbalist in the mean time added. "The last one was this boy, a few years ago. He wanted a cure for his friends. A bit of a nervous type, if you're asking me. There used to be more like him, passing by for a cure, but it became quiet when the Avatar defeated the Fire Lord. The Earth Kingdom is normalizing the size of its army and the troops are going home."  
With stiff limps she shuffled across the green house, being followed by the cat.  
"That must have been Aang," Katara mumbled to Zuko who nodded. "With his frogs," he added subtly.  
"Ah yes, frogs," the Herbalist exclaimed in elation. "That's what I've recommended to him. I wonder if his friends have made it. It appeared they had a nasty fever."  
"Don't start," Katara mumbled and Zuko looked at her from the corner of his eyes, his expression interested. "Sokka became completely delusional, thinking he was an earthbender while calling me Your Highness."  
"Seems to me he temporarily gained the gift of foresight," Zuko whispered back grinningly and Katara stuck her tongue out.  
"It was only because of Momo snowing me under with all those junk jewelry lying around in that abandoned Fire Temple, while I tried to make him understand he had to get water for us. Instead, he put this crown on my head. One with two dragons holding a sun."  
Shaking her head Katara followed the Herbalist outside, saying: "His friends came out just fine, thanks to the frogs."  
She didn't see Zuko rooted to the ground, watching her walking away with a strange expression in his eyes.

***

The rest of the day it seemed as though time had stood still, while the travelers helped out the old Herbalist with her tasks. The grateful Herbalist, glad with the company, showed them which flowers to water, then let them dig up rootstocks of the tiger striped dahlias and repot the parsley-thyme.  
Katara watched in great curiosity as Zuko with apparent skill tore apart the bulbs of the fire lilies to amplify their numbers.  
His cheeks turned a light shade of pink when he saw her raised eyebrows and he smiled a bit shyly as he wiped his forehead with a dirt stained hand. "My mother loved the fire lilies in the royal gardens and took care of them personally," he explained and Katara's gaze softened as she nodded understandingly. Everything was better than having to play with Azula, she imagined.  
"They really are extraordinary beautiful flowers," Katara commented as the Herbalist picked one out of a vase and gave it to her. Zuko cast a glance at her as she wove it through her braid, the red and gold petals enhancing the copper tones of her dark brown hair. She looked lovely with it. He bowed his head and averted his gaze to the bulbs again.  
"I always liked the water lilies better," he mumbled.

After midday they wandered across the ruins, followed by Miyuki the cat, looking for the last of autumn crocuses the Herbalist needed for her extracts.  
"So, how long have you been here?" Katara asked, while jumping lightly over a column lying next to a beheaded statue of lion-dragon. "With Jun?"  
"I have been here while Nyla followed your scent," Zuko replied. "I only caught a glimpse of the city, though. At that time I wasn't really interested and Nyla runs really fast."  
Katara looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded and smiled, turning around.  
"Do you know what those flowers exactly look like?" She changed the subject.  
"Ehm, no," Zuko dryly responded, "my uncle has taught me a lot, but telling two plants apart isn't his greatest talent."  
He smiled wryly at the memory. At least he would never forget the appearance of the white jade flower again. "Do you?"  
With a bright smile Katara shook her head, a feeling of lightheartedness taking over. She felt joyous and well rested, relieved in the knowledge of having survived Senlin Harbor and spending a quiet afternoon with Zuko, who in a more calm stride followed her dashing braid, looking more at ease than he had done in days.

For a moment Zuko stood still, watching as the waterbender with the fiery flower in her hair stepped over a splashing brook. He thought back of the moment this morning when she so innocently, so carelessly had described the crown Momo had put on her head.  
A crown with two dragons holding a sun. A Fire Nation crown. A crown he could recognize from only having it described to him.  
A crown which was to be worn by, and only by the Fire Lady.  
He couldn't grasp how it was possible that a crown with such a symbolic value had ended up in an abandoned Fire Temple in the Earth Kingdom. To his knowledge there were only a few crowns depicting the Unity of the Dragons Around the Sun, as it was called, and no one had missed the important jewel.  
Perhaps, he realized with a shock, Fire Lord Azulon had wanted to dispose of it along with other treasures, after his wife, Fire Lady Ilah, had passed away. There hadn't been a Fire Lady ever since and the crown most likely had not been worn until at one day, more than two years ago, a lemur had put it on Katara's head. The same day the Blue Spirit had done his first honorable deed, by rescuing the Avatar from Admiral Zhao's grasp…

***

As the evening fell over the northern Earth Kingdom, Zuko and Katara returned to the Institute with a small lilac flower, resembling the crocus blossoming during spring, the only one they could find between the city's ruins. To their utter relief the Herbalists wrinkled mouth curled up in an approving smile when she carefully took over the delicate flower. They had done well.  
"Such nice young people, aren't they, Miyuki? They would make fine students," the Herbalist commented when the travelers had walked away for a friendly spar and the cat meowed in agreement.

As dusk slowly darkened the ruins surrounding them, the two members of the White Lotus Society took position across one another and smiled at each other. Then they slid into a stance.  
Unnoticed by the two young travelers, the Herbalist watched silently as they lazily performed a few stances, calm fire and stilled water flowing through the air, illuminating the gold and silver lotus clasps on their dark green army cloaks.

They weren't trying to make it look like a real fight, having had enough of those in Senlin Harbor and the spar soon became a mixture of a slow battle dance and a game between the elements.  
Their elegant Earth Kingdom robes, which the Herbalist had cleaned from the Senlin Harbor mud during their sleep, fluttered around them as they moved. They somehow seemed to fit in the environment, their elements strange to their Earth Kingdom appearances, adding to the unworldly sight of the ruins of the Earth Kingdom city of Taku.

Sometimes they would talk or laugh, comparing the influence of the setting of the sun and the rising moon on their strengths, drawing towards each other as they practiced.  
When they were a few feet away from each other, they halted, silently looking each other in the eyes. Only a small ball of fire and a string of water flowed between them.  
Then the gentle ribbon of water playfully wound itself around a ball of fire and Katara looked down in concentration, trying not to extinguish it. Zuko bowed his head as well, keeping the fire as motionless as possible, trying not to vaporize the water. A small smile appeared on their faces when they managed for half a minute.

Then Katara suddenly with a fiery movement summoned the rain and dew from her surroundings and with a fierce movement threw the newly formed icicle towards the darkening sky, the light playfulness having made place for a deadly skill. The next moment Zuko had slid into stance and a powerful bolt of lightning made the icicle explode in millions of brilliant crystals.  
The Herbalist turned around and walked away, followed by her cat. "No. Not ordinary Earth Kingdom soldiers at all."

***

With an expectant gaze the old woman looked up from her plate, folding her hands underneath her chin, as her eyes stayed to rest on the two young people sitting across the table.  
"Well, don't you think it's time you two would ask me about it?" She then said, her old voice soft as she stretched out a hand to pet her cat. "I'm sure you had a nice day and it's done you well, but I can see you are burdened with a task that needs to be dealt with very soon. So, isn't it time you ask me?"

The surprised gaze in Zuko's eyes quickly made place for a serious expression. "Eight years ago the Spirit Princess landed on the Earth Kingdom shores with nine vassals, nine helpers. We are members of the White Lotus Society looking for her, because she's the key to prevent the fall of the Order."  
"We've been told that after she landed at Senlin Harbor, she headed for Taku," Katara added.  
The woman's old face wrinkled as she thoughtfully stroked her cat's white fur. "Than I must disappoint you. I have never seen a Spirit Princess before…"  
Zuko's shocked gaze met Katara's, equally taken unpleasantly by surprise. They had silently hoped for a clue, a hint, anything what would bring them further in their search for Zuko's mother. The unexpectedness of the blow hit them hard.

"Are you sure? It's been a long time ago. She could have left a message, or… something like that?" Zuko asked through clenched teeth, trying to control the shake in his voice and rising panic. They were running out of time. If the Herbalist couldn't remember the Spirit Princess having put in at Taku, then…  
"… but," the Herbalist continued imperturbable, ignoring Zuko's question, "I can remember a young woman showing up at the Institute about that time, accompanied by nine even younger men."  
Two head jerked up in surprise, the fierce gazes making the Herbalist smile.  
"They were barely out of their teens, if I remember correctly, but they were very skilled warriors. Like you," she established dryly and they both colored, knowing she had seen their last maneuver.  
"The woman they accompanied wasn't any princess, though. She was just a young woman, carrying a burden unfathomable. I could read both grief and guilt in her eyes. I could see she was in mourning, because of her dejected demeanor and her white clothes, but it seemed like the person she mourned wasn't the one who had deceased recently."  
Zuko slowly bowed his head during the Herbalist's words. "He wasn't," he said tonelessly, when he felt a small, cool hand grasp his. Katara. He wouldn't have to look up to see the compassion and encouragement shining in her large, blue eyes.

The herbalist's gaze for a moment thoughtfully stayed to rest on the young man, sitting across from her. There was more to this woman the young people were looking for than they had let on initially. At least the young firebender seemed to have known the mysterious lady for a long time.  
"She and her helpers stayed at Taku for a little while. Although it saddened her to see the city demolished, the fact that the place didn't held any interest to the Fire Nation anymore seemed to calm her down and slowly she started to regain some of her former self. She had a soft, caring nature and although the young men seemed to be subservient to her, she treated them as her friends, her family even. The young men went through fire and water for her."  
Katara's mouth curled up in a small smile at the expression. "Did she tell you her name?"  
The Herbalist shook her head. "She said her name was of no importance and the young men called her 'sister'."

"The sign of the White Lotus," Zuko mumbled as he looked up, seeking Katara's gentle gaze and she nodded.  
The Herbalist poured in some more tea. "During her stay the young woman became interested in my work as a herbalist and I've decided to teach her like I would have taught my students. She was an eager and quick learner and learning the practice of healing seemed to ease her feelings of guilt somewhat. She never talked about herself much, but I can remember she told me about the female waterbenders at the North Pole who could heal with their bending and regretted she didn't possess such an admirable skill."  
Katara lightly gasped as she felt Zuko jerk up his head next to her as well, clenching her hand tightly for a moment. She was deeply shocked. It seemed as though the Spirit Princess had been reaching out for her, bridging all those years, having a knowledge beyond the official Fire Nation doctrine... Her eyes locked with Zuko's and she saw her conflicting emotions of shock, excitement and confusion mirrored in his eyes.

"The last day of her stay at Taku," the Herbalist softly continued, seemingly unaware of the unrest her words had caused, "I found her up at night, at the ruins of the Temple of the White Lotus, staring at the dark starlit sky. Apparently she did this often, when the clouds didn't veil the skies. When I asked her about it, she answered to me that she hoped that one day, when the time was ripe, someone would arrive at Taku, asking about her and that she was planning on leaving a trail of kindness and healing through the Earth Kingdom for that person to find her. If that person would arrive," the Herbalist now looked at Zuko directly who paled, as his mouth fell dry, "she asked me to tell him to look at the sky at night and follow her."

---

Sokka looked out over the plains of snow, stretching out before him. Daylight would nowadays barely break through anymore, but for a somber dark grey blanket covering the white snow. Soon it would be solstice again, the brightest feast of the year in both pole areas and the start of a new season of light. The season in which the crown prince would get married to his Kyoshi Warrior.  
Sokka's big grin fell, when a sharp whistle tortured his ears and he looked down to see his father standing on the courtyard below, with next to him Master Pakku. Quickly Sokka climbed down, his guilty expression not entirely convincing, but Hakoda's grim look told Sokka the Chief had other worries than admonishing his son for standing on the roof of the palace again. His cool, blue gaze was furious.  
"What's the matter?" Sokka asked warily, his heart missing a beat.  
Hakoda held up a letter, upon which Sokka could see the broken seal of the Fire Nation.  
"It's Katara. We're leaving today."

---

Only the sound of the couple walking between the ruins of the city, disturbed the peaceful quiet of the cold autumnal night. As Katara looked up, she could see pine-trees surrounding the city waving in the icy wind, the moon casting a silvery glow on them.  
"I think it must be here somewhere," Zuko quietly spoke up next to her and halted, a doubtful gaze in his eyes. "The Herbalist mentioned the center of the city."  
Katara stood still too, letting her eyes wander across the scenery of crumbled down buildings, pieces of rock littered all over what used to be streets in no apparent order. How to decipher which one of the ruins had been the Temple of the White Lotus? She could hardly tell the ruins of two buildings apart.  
If only… An idea occurred to her and within the moment she had pulled out a glistening wave from a nearby brook, bringing her on top of one of the last pillars still standing. Then she looked down and gasped.

"Zuko!" She called softly.  
He looked up, then turned around in confusion, not understanding where she had gone.  
"Above you," Katara added dryly and smiled when his eyes lit up. "I've found it!" She then said excitedly. "You're standing on it. This ruin actually has the shape of a lotus. It must have been beautiful back then. We found the Temple of the White Lotus."

Katara came down from her high position as Zuko looked around, a flash of a white fur shooting away behind a bench catching his attention.  
"And I think I found the place where my mother used to sit down," he said quietly.  
Katara silently watched him as he stepped forward, crouching down to examine the beautiful mosaic on the bench, his love for antiques momentarily distracting him. This was the first time he had actually acknowledged the real identity of the Spirit Princess. And she felt a bit lighter, when she sat down next to him.

As Katara quietly took a seat, Zuko noticed she out of habit touched her neck, while looking at him thoughtfully.  
His gaze trailed down. After the battle for Senlin Harbor was over, she had taken some time to heal the bruises from the stone glove. Her fingers, however, touched nothing and Zuko bowed his head.  
"I think it's time I returned this to you." He pulled back his sleeve and a carved stone shimmered in the cold moonlight as he loosened the blue velvet around his wrist.  
An adorable shade of pink crept over Katara's cheeks as she followed his hands gently handling the fabric, before he held the necklace out to her, a regretful yet grateful smile softening his features.

Her eyes went from his hands, holding the necklace protectively, to his expectant gaze, but she didn't stretch out her hand to take it. She closed her eyes, then shook her head once.  
"I'm sorry. My hands are too cold. Would you put it on for me?"  
He took a breath, as if he wanted to answer and something flickered in his eyes, but then he nodded and Katara turned around, ignoring the beating of her heart.

She felt him coming closer, a warm breath softly tingling her neck and she looked down to see his hands holding the necklace in front of her, in line with her collarbone. Just like then…  
Then he gently pulled away her braid and fastened the velvet ribbon around her neck, only to let his hands rest there, warming the skin underneath it.  
"Katara… In case I haven't said so before; I didn't steal your necklace back then. I found it. On the beach," he whispered, the tone of his voice loaded with memories.

For a moment Katara didn't answer and she slightly bowed her head, trying to control a sudden wave of emotions washing through her, as she remembered the beach and acknowledged the truth in his words.  
"I'm glad," she then whispered. "Glad it's been you who found it." Her genuinely relieved tone was laced with a hint of an apology.

Zuko closed his eyes and breathed in her acknowledgement, his heart making a joyous jolt. "Your mother's necklace," he said.  
"Yes, my mother's necklace," Katara endorsed, a bit evasive, her heart starting to beat irregularly.  
"Katara, there's more to this necklace then just an heirloom of your mother's, isn't it?"  
She felt the warmth emanating behind her back and she wished she could see his expression, but was afraid to turn around. Therefore, she only closed her eyes. "What do you know about this necklace?"  
"It's been your mother's necklace. You wear it in memory of her. And I noticed… there's a link between your necklace and Suki's."

Katara stilled. He had been paying attention after all, at Kyoshi Island.  
"Yes, there is," she slowly said. "I take it that you have seen my necklace is old. Older than me or my mother who wore it before me. In fact, before my mother, the necklace belonged to my mother's mother, who gave it to her daughter at her wedding day. The necklace belonged to my GranGran."  
Zuko was silent for a moment. He had seen the necklace was old, but somehow he had never considered Katara's mother not being the first one to wear the jewel. "And Suki's necklace?"  
"Didn't belong to GranGran. Sokka made it himself in the best Northern Water Tribe tradition…"

Katara straightened her back, her voice dreamily as she continued: "As you know, my grandmother came from the north. When she arrived at the South Pole, she was wearing this necklace. After my mother passed away, it was given to me. Not until I first met with Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe, I understood where the necklace stood for, since the customs around the necklace were unknown to the Southern Water Tribe. When we arrived at the North Pole, Yue asked me… when I was going to be married. She was as old as I am now and she wore a similar necklace, only brand new. It appeared that my mother's necklace was in fact… a betrothal necklace. The necklaces are hand carved by the men and therefore unique. It was only a matter of moments that Master Pakku recognized the necklace he had carved for my GranGran almost sixty years ago."  
Katara turned around slightly, a little humor in her eyes. "So, back at the riverbank, you bribed me with a betrothal necklace."  
To her satisfaction she saw his pale cheeks coloring bright red as his eyes widened in realization. But then his expression turned thoughtful as he let his hands slide from her neck, caressing the soft jaw line in the process. "And two years later you've asked me to put it on."

He smiled tenderly and looked away, wanting to give her time to control the deep crimson rushing to her cheeks at his knowing remark. His gaze then suddenly got caught by the white cat, appearing from behind the bench, behind which she had been hiding.  
The cat seemed to find his look enough reason to curl herself up and roll on the ground where she stood last, purring full of joy.

A confused expression appeared in Zuko's eyes, indecisive whether to ignore or become annoyed by the fluffy creature. Even better, Miyuki apparently thought. She jumped up and bounced her head against Zuko's shins in an attempt to pet that big, nice human.  
"Seeking trouble with the Fire Nation again?" Zuko finally asked with a slight grin, upon hearing Katara's muffled chuckle. But Miyuki just looked back, her light green eyes narrowing in satisfaction.  
Sighing deeply, he bent down and picked up the white, fluffy cat. Purring in victory the cat lay down on his lap, then yawned.  
Katara suppressed a grin, remembering the drool Appa always showered his unwilling target with and the turtle ducks she several times had seen flying towards the young man whenever he sat down at his mother's pond.  
She stretched out her hand to pet Miyuki, who gladly received her caresses, narrowing her jade eyes to little slids.

"I wonder what my mother could have meant with looking up at the sky and follow her."  
Zuko looked up at the starlit sky and Katara followed his gaze as she put her head on his shoulder, feeling his arm wrapping around her. She didn't have the answer. "What is your favorite constellation again?"  
Zuko for a moment stayed silent, remembering that fateful night in Omashu. They had been so awkward with each other back then, almost completely estranged from each other two years after the war, with only a hesitant recognition of a similar mindset. Now he had his arm wrapped around the waterbender as Katara intimately had nestled her head in the crook of his neck.

With a small smile, he lifted his arm and pointed at the sky.  
"It's the constellation of Ursa Minor…" He was silent for a moment, then added softly: "And the brightest star in the constellation is the Polar Star. My favorite."

Katara's heart skipped a beat as she lifted her head to look at him, but he avoided her gaze and said a little hoarsely: " See? There it is, never far from Ursa Major. The mother…" His voice trailed away as his hand motionlessly fell into his lap.  
"Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Mother and child," Katara whispered, following the cloud of steam reaching for the darkness above. "We have to follow the stars."  
Zuko painfully swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked up again where the stars shone ever peacefully in the velvet night sky.  
"During the night the stars move from the east to the west," he said with difficulty. "She's in the Fire Nation."

---

_**A/N:** Another big chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. I wanted this chapter to be as peaceful and tranquil as last chapter, although a lot still happens! Can you see I like flowers?_

_I'm very glad a lot of you noticed the little moments between Zuko and Katara. I think it's important for the development of their relationship to have those moments in the story, and I honestly love to write them. And I'm so glad the description of exhaustion was so lively. I think I pulled my inspiration from my own tiredness after finishing chapter 32, lol. Honestly, I've slept about 12 hours after that. I think I last slept 12 hours when I was still a little child. _

_I think we can deduce now that it's highly likely that the Spirit Princess is in fact, Princess Ursa. Also, the ugly monkey statue luckily has at least some value in life, besides being haunting. I loved providing a back story for Iroh's visit to the Spirit World. There's so much from the show that appears in it but doesn't get explained or explored, and that's where I step in. Therefore, I'm overjoyed to hear when you think that's how the story should continue if Bryke were writing this (they probably wouldn't make it a Zutara though). The comments about the quality, realism, the structure and the plot of the story I'm very happy with too. I'm trying to make this into a real adventure, mystery, developing relationship story, which fits with the original series. I'm always glad with more reviews so I'm glad Ihateyoubyme wished me more reviews (on a sidenote, I'm a girl, lol)._

_Rin Bluegold asked me what happened with Sokka and Suki and why they are seperated. The answer to the second question is, because Suki had her duty to the Kyoshi Warriors and Sokka to the Southern Water Tribe, so that's why they are separated. So far, not much has happened with them until now, apart from Sokka finally having asked Suki to marry him, but with Weiting's letter being send to the Southern Water Tribe, the focus has shifted back to the Water Tribe again in this chapter._

_This chapter is very important because I finally got to fit in an old idea about the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the mother and the child) I picked up somewhere and enhanced with my own discovery of the Polar Star being the most important star of the constellation of Ursa Minor (the child, or Zuko). Miyuki's behaviour I based on the cats of my parents-in-law and my gratitude goes to my boyfriend for providing me with the situational sketch (love you). _

_The theme of the prompt has been addressed by the thieves having stolen the door which Katara and Zuko have seen in Senlin Harbor. And did Zuko or did he not steal Katara's necklace? Also, the Spirit Princess's feelings of guilt are a more subtle reference of the this chapter's theme: because didn't she take a life?_

_The music in this chapter is from the early 1900's British composer. I actually came to know the music because it's been used for an attraction in a Dutch (fairytale) amusement park. The shortened version of the music can be found on YouTube. I think it fits perfectly with the ancient, tranquil atmosphere of Taku._


	35. Message

I'm very sorry for using the chapter update for this message, but Fall of the White Lotus won't be updated for a while owing to a bereavement in the family. I hope you will forgive the delay.


	36. Calling

_**A/N:**__ A month has passed since my previous message and by now I also have picked up on writing on Fall of the White Lotus again. The story wants to be written. I actually started writing last week already, giving myself two weeks instead of one to find my rhythm again. A love story needs to be written in the right mood._

_I want to thank all of __you who sent me notes and reviews to support me, offering help (and hugs, thanks Saucebender, I've made good use of them, I hope you're well) and promising to stay tuned for the next update. You don't know how grateful I am for all of your concern. It was very, very much appreciated. Thank you._

**

* * *

****Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 35: Calling**

Music: Urban Symphony, Rändajat

* * *

The icy wind blew away the loose strands of Katara's hair, when she turned around and looked up at the early morning sky. Night had yet to make place for daylight and the sparkling stars still cast small beams of light on the world covered in hues of dark blue. The pale moonlight gleamed silvery on Katara's deep blue eyes as her gaze focused on the constellation of Ursa Minor, which had moved to the west during the course of night.

Katara frowned slightly. Although part of her felt an unexpected excitement with seeing the Fire Nation again, it would be harder for at least Zuko to remain anonymous. And though the Fire Nation wasn't a large country, in comparison to the magnificent Earth Kingdom, there were still many places where the Spirit Princess could be. Her eyes stayed to rest on the brightest star of the constellation. The Polar Star. An ancient sailor men's guide and symbol to her nation. The bluish light which were now calling Zuko home.

Another gush of wind made Katara fix her gaze on the road again and at that moment the faint sound of drums broke the mysterious silence of the woods, like the ominous sounds they had heard when they had first arrived at Taku. Jerking up her head, Katara met with Zuko's wary gaze.

"They're using the same rhythm again," Zuko said quietly as he put his hand on Appa's neck to hold him back. "It still sounds familiar."

The travelers both looked back over their shoulders, down onto the dusky city behind the crumbled down gates. It was a matter of moments before they would climb on Appa and leave the ancient ruins.

"The drums are calling out to you," the old voice of the Herbalist suddenly spoke up from behind them and they spun around to see the old woman leaning on her stick with an indulgent smile on her face, her light dress gleaming silver in the cold moonlight. With a soft sound Miyuki landed next to the old woman, a bright snow white spot in the dark forests. The Herbalist let her golden eyes wander across the dark environment, before she continued: "A hundred years ago, when the Fire Nation burned down the city, some of the inhabitants managed to escape and went into hiding within the dense woods surrounding the city. To prevent falling into the hands of the Fire Nation they split up in small groups living separately from each other. The drums became their meanings of communication. With the passing of the years the sound of the drums became legendary and feared by the Fire Nation. Among the survivors were a few members of the White Lotus Society, guardians of the temple in the middle of the city. It is said that those people and their successors later on stayed in contact with the Spirit World…"

For a moment she was silent and listened to the never ending rhythm, vibrating through the quiet forests. "It seems as though they are playing a song… In all of my years of listening to the drums, I've never heard them play music before. The spirits must have wanted to pass a message to you."

"That's right, wise woman."

Appa grumbled low down his throat but didn't move when a young boy of about fourteen years old suddenly stepped out of the greenish black dusk of the forests. He was lithe and wore slim fitting clothes in a somber brown green which made him merge with his environment almost immediately. His brown hair was pulled back in a small topknot and in his pale face his almond, green eyes stood out. A few feet before Zuko and Katara he stood still and for a moment eyed the travelers. Then he made a curt Earth Kingdom bow. "My name is Taiko and I am a descendent of the mayor of Taku, whose youngest son managed to escape the siege of Taku a hundred years ago. I have been sent by the people of the drums to greet the descendent of the Fire Lord who burned down the city."

His eyes stayed to rest upon Zuko. "It's true then, a new leader of the Fire Nation has ascended to the throne. A Fire Lord who is said to be friends to the Avatar."

"It's true," Zuko bowed his head in acknowledgment. "My name is Zuko and I count Avatar Aang to my closest friends." He looked up. "The Fire Nation deeply regrets the actions of the past hundred years, but it saddens me even more to see the city still abandoned after the ending of the war two years ago."

"It has been a long time since the people of the drums have lived in a city and most of us can't even remember the events of a hundred years ago. Going back isn't a natural thing anymore for my people. The descendents of the survivors have turned into people of the woods. But then the spirits announced your coming to the ruins of Taku and asked us to play the rhythm you've heard. A rhythm containing a message to you. I wanted to meet you and decided to show myself to you." The boy shifted his weight from one leg to another and cocked his head, his gaze curious as he looked at the young man standing in front of him. What he saw surprised him.

The Fire Lord had seen only a few more springs than he himself and didn't resemble the images of Fire Lords Taiko had been brought up with. The Fire Lord was tall with a straight posture and his agile, quick movements betrayed the firebender underneath the Earth Kingdom robes. The playful bangs concealed the most interesting part of the young man's face; a fiery scar in the form of a flame disfiguring his eye and most probably behind the messy hair, his ear too. A marring he hadn't expected to see on the face of a nation's ruler, on this otherwise perfect, noble features. Then the wind blew away the hair falling into Zuko's face and the boy met with the Fire Lord's gaze. His topaz eyes a bit aloof, Zuko's expression was still gentle as he looked at the boy thoughtfully.

"You're different," Taiko established without further explanation, but Zuko nodded nonetheless.

"I try to be. And…" as he silently understood the boy's reasons for coming down and show himself, he said: "… if you and other members of your people decide to pick up the task and rebuild Taku again, I will gladly offer the aid when needed."

A small smile lit up the boy's face. "Thank you." He made a formal Earth Kingdom bow, then let his bag slide from his shoulder. "Before you go, I would want to restore something that, according to the wise woman, belongs to you."

Zuko raised his brow in surprise, but Katara's soft gasp made him look more closely. Then he sucked in his breath sharply.

"It was found by our people in an abandoned temple complex. It's fit for a queen."

"A Sugarqueen," Katara whispered before she could hold it back. Something flickered in the boy's green eyes and he hold out his hands to her.

"It would look beautiful on you," he said quietly and Katara blushed a deep crimson before she hesitantly took the jewel from him, trying to ignore Zuko's gaze burning in the back of her head. In her hands now laid the antique crown of the Two Dragons United Around the Sun. Tentatively, she let her finger trail along the smooth gold. A gust of wind then made her cloak whirl around her as the sun suddenly seem to come to life with a pale ray of moonlight making the precious stone sparkle between the two dragons holding the symbol of Zuko's nation. A shiver run down Katara's spine, before her cloak veiled the glistening topaz again.

"It was good to have met with you, Your Majesty." Taiko smiled at the dumbstruck expression with which Zuko looked at the crown in Katara's hands, the deep shade of crimson on his cheeks mirroring hers. Then the boy disappeared between the endless sea of black green pine trees, accompanied by the sound of mysterious drums slowly fading away.

* * *

Katara woke to the sound of waves gently rolling onto land and the scent of a salty sea breeze coming in through the slightly opened windows. The next thing she noticed were the luxurious silk sheets caressing her skin and the downy pillow her face rested on. Opening her eyes, she stared at a ornately carved pillar next to her soft futon, the red and gold of the paint on the shiny ebony wood.  
She definitely wasn't in the Earth Kingdom anymore.

Drowsily she tried to remember falling asleep in this heavenly bed, but as she closed her eyes in concentration, a light frown appearing on her face, she could only remember images of the sea between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation endlessly passing by as the sun rose and set again. She also remembered the last time she passed Zuko the reins when it was her turn to get some sleep.

He silently went to sit beside her, wrapped his cloak around her stiff and weary body and took over the reins. For a moment his hands had lingered on her own cold ones, raising his temperature as he let his warmth flow towards the ice cold waterbender. The moment her body relaxed and slumped against him, she felt his arm being wrapped around her protectively, helping her down to the saddle. A tender look in a pair of golden eyes, a whispered: "Sleep well, Katara," and she was gone…

…To wake up in this strange, clearly Fire Nation environment. Although, strange… There was something familiar to the place. Pushing her hands into the soft mattress, she sat up straight and looked around, fully awake now.

She was right, this place did look familiar.

Katara threw back the silk sheets and blankets, swinging her legs out of bed. Almost automatically she slid into a pair of silk slippers, peeking red and gold from underneath the light green slip she still wore. The outer robes were gone.

Slowly, Katara crossed the large, ornate room covered in half-light and stopped before the window.

For a moment she didn't do anything, then with a powerful movement opened the heavy, brocade curtains. A stream of sunlight poured into the room, but when her eyes had adjusted themselves to the sharp colors, she had a wide view onto a silvery beach and the light blue sea, the gentle breeze causing the calm waves to sparkle. A beach house.

Realization slowly started to dawn to her. Turning around slowly, she recognized the room, having seen it one time before. His old bedchamber. It was spacious, with ebony, carved pillars supporting a wooden ceiling. A somberly colored room which was somewhat adjusted to the boy who used to play here as the ceiling was decorated with beautifully painted fragments of old Fire Nation sagas. Katara let her gaze wander over fiery dragons flying through downy clouds, red temples rising from lush subtropical forests and the sun, held by the frightening spirit Katara recognized as Agni, captured in glistening gold paint. In the middle of the room a large bed, much too spacious for a grown man, let alone for a small boy, was guarded by four pillars shaped in the form of red dragons, holding up a red silk canopy.

"I brought us to Ember Island," a voice, still hoarse from sleeping, sounded from the bed. She turned around to see him emerge from the blankets. Of course, a night's sleep was lost when they weren't near each other. He hadn't bothered to change his own clothing as well, heaving tossed off the green robes but still wearing the slightly puffing dark green trousers. He blinked against the fiery sunlight as he rubbed his eyes and walked towards the window as well.

Despite herself, Katara's gaze wandered from his sleepy face toward his bare chest, lingering on the star shaped scar. In this light, it somewhat resembled the Polar Star, she noticed in confusion as her ears turned red from staring at his well-defined upper body.

"Why?" She asked to distract herself, trying to ignore her senses being very aware of him standing next to her now. He didn't seem to notice, she saw in relief, as he cast a glance at the beach.

"I didn't know where else to go, really," Zuko confessed. "This place isn't used during winters, so all staff are gone. I think there's only one housekeeper checking the place every other week. And it has been a good hide out before. "

Katara smiled understandingly at the memory, then glanced at the room behind him. "You have fixed up the place quite nicely," she commented and a big grin appeared on Zuko's pale features.

"Yeah, I didn't want to resort to Li and Lo's beach cabin anymore, now I'm the Fire Lord," he said casually.

Thoughtfully, she looked at him for a moment, suspecting this wasn't the reason he had restored the beach house to its old glory. "But you're still not using the Grand Chambers, aren't you?"

His face darkened slightly, then he said coldly: "Let's just say I don't want to spill a lot of money on the huge modifications needed for me to use them. Anyway…" he quickly changed the subject, "everywhere else I probably would have been recognized… Which brings us to our next problem…"

"… We don't know where to find your mother in the Fire Nation," Katara supplied, nodding understandingly. "I know. I have thought about it during the trip across the sea."

"And?" He looked at her expectantly, his gaze a little hopeful, but Katara sighed. "I honestly don't know. I'm not Sokka. The stars pointed towards the west, towards the Fire Nation. We're in the Fire Nation now, but I don't have a clue where to start searching."

"How many days do we have left?" Zuko's eyes wandered towards the sun, estimating its position in the sky. Katara's gaze followed his.

"A week only," she said softly, not being able to keep the worry out of her voice entirely. "And then fall will make place for winter."

* * *

"A nice cup of jasmine tea can do miracles for the weary mind." Uncle Iroh neatly maneuvered himself around the table in the center of his study and handed the young Avatar and his earthbending teacher a cup of steaming Monkey King. "Careful, it's still hot," he commented cheerily, then looked at the black, grinning statue separating Toph from Aang. The large desk which had been dominating the study before, was shoved into a corner. Aang eyed him suspiciously. This morning he had seen Iroh looking at them thoughtfully.

"Slept well?" He had asked, his voice betraying nothing but the words chosen were too specific to be only conversational. The Grandmaster had seemed glad with their well-rested appearance. Therefore Aang thought there was more to his slightly pressing invitation to have tea with him in his study this afternoon, after he had cleared the pathway of snow.

Toph took an absent-minded sip from her tea, as her unseeing eyes fixed their gaze on the statue in front of her. "It laughs," she then suddenly stated, making Aang look up with an attentive gaze. "I've heard it before. And now it laughs again."

Aang had noticed before that the rough earthbender had a certain sensitivity for the spiritual world, but somehow she always seemed to surprise him with her clear observations. As always when she expressed a certain understanding of his world, that went beyond even Katara's empathy, he felt a wave of gratitude wash over him again. And he felt happy knowing that she would be with him when in the Spirit World.

"That, my child, is because the statue is a portal, a means of communication with the Spirit World," Uncle Iroh explained to her. "The statue of the grinning monkey is just that: the personification of the Monkey King on earth. The Monkey King was a powerful but proud demon who eventually even defied the Jade Emperor in heaven. After being taken prison, he was sent to fulfill a journey to the west with three other disciples. Those were the commander of the Heavenly Naval Forces, banished for flirting with the Princess of the Moon, the Great General Who Folds the Curtain, banished for dropping a crystal goblet of the Heavenly Queen Mother and the third prince of the Dragon-King, sentenced to death for setting fire to his father's great pearl, but saved from execution."

For a moment, he closed his wrinkled eyes. "A physical and a spiritual journey to the west," he then mumbled, more to himself then to his quiet listeners. A soft giggle echoed through the study as dark shadows created by the somber, grey daylight, danced across the rice paper doors.

"Well… I have this letter to read, so, if you two remain in the study, I will retreat to my bedroom." Uncle Iroh waved pointedly with the scroll he had just picked up from his desk and walked toward the door, ignoring Aang's sharp gaze resting on the Earth Kingdom and White Lotus seals on the parchment. His footsteps died away, as he left them with the hideous monkey statue prominently placed on the table in the middle of Iroh's study.

For a moment it remained silent between the two young teens, then Toph sighed. "Does it still snow? I can't tell, it's been ages since I've been outside."

Aang cast a look outside the window, to see what he already knew. That is was still snowing. Once a week he cleared the pathway for Iroh's manservant to go get them groceries. Ba Sing Se went through the most severe winter in decades. He then averted his gaze to Toph, the tough Blind Bandit who had been forced to stay inside because of the nightmares which were draining her strength. Last night had brought back some of the color on her pale features. Sympathy and a look of hopelessness passed over Aang's face as he watched his dear friend, who had become so fragile and suddenly he pursed his lips determinedly. "Let's go Toph. I'm taking you to a place where we can make huge snowmen and you can easily reach the rocks underneath the snow. I don't think Iroh would mind us going into the Spirit World a little later." He snorted sarcastically. "Come on, you need it."  
With one quick movement, he grabbed his glider and opened the windows. A stream of fresh, ice cold wind entered the room. Jumping on the windowsill Aang held out his hand to Toph, who had put down her cup of tea, a doubtful look in her eyes. Then she hesitantly stepped forward too, putting her hand into Aang's, as the old mischievous look returned into her empty gaze. Aang smiled warmly and the next moment, a strong gush of wind blew inside the whirling snowflakes.

The statue chuckled softly as the glider and its passengers took off.

* * *

The heavy, mahogany door quietly slid open and Katara felt her feet sink away in the soft carpet, when she stepped into an elaborately decorated, spacious room. Zuko had taken her to the chambers across from his own, for her to refresh herself and change her Earth Kingdom clothes into less conspicuous ones. Feeling that the door was being closed behind her by Zuko, Katara stopped to look around, taking in the difference in atmosphere with Zuko's chambers. This room was covered with golden Fire Nation insignia and red banners as far as the eye reached. A huge canopy bed on a platform dominated the enormous space, again crowned with a gleaming golden flame.

"I've decided to keep the room as it is," Zuko's voice quietly spoke up next to her and Katara turned around slightly. His face betrayed nothing, but she saw the conflict in his eyes as they passed over the banners and golden flames. This used to be Azula's room, the Fire Princess whom on more than one occasion had tried to destroy him. His little sister.

Katara's features softened and she put her hand on his arm, squeezing it lightly, while she tried to suppress the shiver upon touching his smooth, warm skin. "Azula, how is she?"

He shrugged. "The same as always. The healers are checking up on her every minute of the day, keeping her calm. Most of the times when I visit her, she doesn't even recognize me. And when she does…" He shook his head, trying to get rid of the memory plaguing his mind right now. "Anyway…," a small reassuring smile tugged at his lips as his gaze crossed Katara's worried one, "I'll leave you to it now."

* * *

Zuko had been right. The beach house was already been closed for the winter and the most precious pieces of furniture were covered with white sheets, Katara noticed when she added more steps to the ones which had already been left in the corridors, heading for the kitchen, as she reminisced about the times when Team Avatar used the royal family's abandoned beach house as a hide out. Then too she had been wandering around, driven by a faint urge to find out more about Zuko's past, the house telling her what the silent, closed off boy couldn't or wouldn't. But in two years a lot had been changed to the quiet corridors. Then it had been a dump; old glory fallen into disrepair, a place the owners for very different reasons tried to erase from their memories. The air had been thick with dust and echoes of a long lost past. Now, the red and gold painted ceiling and the mosaic wooden floors were cleaned and polished to their shiny origins and the broken-down furniture had been replaced. The grandeur of the mundane beach resort had been restored. Still, there was something intimate about it, something that the overwhelmingly impressive Fire Nation Palace in Sozin lacked. She could understand why most of Zuko's best memories actually lay here, far from the capital city.

Katara walked down the grand mahogany staircase, when she noticed the wide open front doors. Adjusting her eyes to the bright daylight, she approached the doorsteps, seeing Zuko standing at the shore, the breeze playing with his black strands. He had changed into one of his red silk t-shirts and a pair of knee length trousers.

In the late autumn season the weather on Ember Island was still very warm, but not as searing hot as during the summer weeks they had spent on the island before, and the low sun cast a gentle glow on the silvery beach. Zuko didn't seem to notice her, lost in his thoughts. With a smile, Katara leaned against the doorpost, when her eye caught the small, forgotten disk, tossed behind one of the palm trees flanking the front doors near the doorframe. Lifting her eyebrows, Katara picked it up and saw to her surprise that it was some kind of tablet, made of clay. A child's hand was pressed into it.

Gingerly, she touched the clay with a slender finger. The small hand had made a deep imprint, little fingers having been spread out meticulously. Then Katara's finger stopped, as her breath hitched. There where characters carved into the clay, depicting the name of the child. Zuko.

Her gaze averted to the shore, as her fingers tightened around the plaster cast. A print of Zuko's short early childhood, being left behind by the person whom in an act of unbelievable anger had forced himself a way into the house of his past. Katara now understood whom it had been who had taken away the painting which had been hanging in the second floor corridor, the dark spot on the silk painted wallpaper silent witness to the crime. Two years ago, when they had first arrived here, she had already noticed someone had tried to break an entry, the doors being forced open by some furious strength, but decided against mentioning it, since Zuko didn't too. Together with Sokka he had fixed the front doors and sat on the doorsteps for hours, talking.  
One moment she had found them just sitting there, their silhouettes dark against the setting sun, the expression on their faces hidden from her. She had involuntary come to a stop, suddenly compelled to listen to the soft, unintelligible mumbling, wondering about why the sound of their talking relaxed her, their voices hushed and deeper than normal. Sokka seemed quieter, more mature as he spoke with the older boy next to him and Katara had to blink twice to know that it wasn't Hakoda but her goofy brother sitting there. Zuko however had let go of most of his aloof attitude, looking younger and more vulnerable than he normally did. With her gaze glued to his back, Katara realized she was looking at the real Zuko. The one she had only once seen before, in a cave in Ba Sing Se… That's when the anger had flared up inside her. Letting her grudge against Zuko take over, she purposely had stepped forward to interrupt the conversation, not knowing what they were talking about, but wanting to prevent a possible bonding between the boys nonetheless.

As she watched the waves break around Zuko's legs, Katara remembered his bitter words about him avoiding his father's old chambers and suddenly she realized with painful clarity what he and Sokka must have been talking about those two years ago before she stepped out of the shadows, the corners of her mouth pointing downward disapprovingly in her bossy face, her arms crossed. Their fathers.

Upon Katara's arrival the boys had jumped up in surprise, the genial atmosphere immediately gone. She thought she even remembered Zuko looking at her with a frightened expression in his eyes and how smug she had been about it. Sokka's reproachful look she had chosen to ignore. She had never noticed the tablet that lay discarded on the doorsteps.

Cringing at her own behavior, Katara cursed herself for her cruelty back then. She still couldn't understand Zuko's kind-hearted willingness to forgive her for it. But she also had come to know him as someone who didn't hold grudges easily. Soundlessly Katara walked down the stairs and slid out of her delicate slippers, embracing the soft feeling of the warm silver-sand around her feet. Unhurriedly, she approached her travelling partner.

"After more than two years I'm still wondering what was on the painting that used to hang above the staircase."

Zuko looked up in surprise when Katara popped up next to him, her stare fixed on the ocean before them. Katara had changed into the first thing she liked from Azula's closet, choosing from beautiful dresses his sister had never used. She was now wearing a silk, sleeveless sundress in red and gold, hugging her figure nicely, though it wasn't as revealing as the clothing she used to wander around in two years ago. Somehow, Katara's Water Tribe appearance made the intense color look less fiery, more mysterious as the light of the autumnal sun deepened the blue of her sapphire eyes and cast a golden glow on her gleaming curls hanging freely over her shoulders. It had been long since he had seen her in Fire Nation clothing and somehow his breath caught again, just like the last time she had appeared before him wearing his colors, though it had been that… circus dress. He never had the heart to tell her.

"My family was, Katara," he said quietly. "It was a family portrait, of my parents , my sister and me. When I visited Ember Island with Azula and her friends, I broke into the house, which had been abandoned for years and tore the picture off the wall."

"When was that?" Katara turned around to look at him fully, searching his gaze.

"Just before I sought out you guys at the Western Air Temple." He sounded a bit ashamed. "I threw the picture into a fire I made on the beach."

But Katara didn't seem to judge him, looking past him with a thoughtful gaze in her eyes. "Well, that explains it," she then mumbled.

"Explains what?"

"The black spot on the beach near the sea. I noticed it when we were staying here, waiting for Sozin's Comet to arrive."

"It was a big fire," Zuko mumbled, thinking back of the flames licking the dark night sky where now only lay soft, white sand. That night when the four of them had revealed their deepest secrets to each other and he had urged Mai to become more… lively. Only now he realized he had actually wanted her to be more like Katara…

Katara took a strand of her long dark brown curls and wound it around her finger, as she took in the landscape with the beach house high above a dune, surrounded by palm trees. "I can only imagine what it would be like, on vacation with Azula and Mai and Ty Lee," she said, pulling him abruptly from his thoughts. Zuko looked at her from the corner of his eye. Katara's face seemed indifferent, but there was something… His lips curled in an amused smile. "Are you curious?"

Katara jerked up her head. "No…! It's just that… you've never really talked about it before… and… and…"

"… you were curious," he finished the sentence for her, a smile glistening in his eyes.

The annoyed frown on Katara's face disappeared immediately and she started laughing as well. "Well, I guess I am."

"There isn't much to tell, really," Zuko said honestly. "We came here, because we were sent away by our father, who didn't want us in his war meetings. We arrived, the cabin smelled like old ladies, on the beach I threw an ice cream in Mai's lap…"  
"You did what?" Katara's eyes widened.

"Hey, I never said I was handy," Zuko defended himself.

"The look on her face must have been priceless," Katara chuckled, then returned her gaze to the beach house behind them. It was the biggest in the area. Strange she hadn't noticed before.

Zuko didn't answer but for an unintelligible muttering.

"Anyway," Katara changed the subject, "it would have been nice if we would have had a Team Avatar reunion in this beach house. The place where the ending began."

Zuko fell silent and for a moment only looked at Katara's cheerful features, before he said: "The workers have been rebuilding the house for the past two years, but I actually was planning on inviting you all next summer, after…," he averted his gaze to the far horizon, his expression darkening.

Katara felt an inexplicable pang of fear, when she looked up at him. "After what?"

"After Mai and I got married."

A painful sting now shot through Katara's heart, much more intense than the pang she had felt before, causing her face to turn ashen, as her stomach dropped. Zuko had been planning on proposing to Mai, before his uncle, by some coincidence, had pulled him out of his palace and sent him away with Katara on their journey. Her breathing started to quicken and she closed her eyes for a moment as only one, very disturbing thought whirled through her mind: so close, she had been so close to losing him… Trying to control herself, she followed his gaze. But why did she react so strongly? Wasn't it normal for Zuko wanting to marry Mai, who had been his girlfriend for two years now? The girl he had known all of his life? It was only an appropriate time for them, Zuko having turned eighteen this summer. His parents hadn't been much older when they married and the Fire Nation needed an heir. Preferably more than one.

And hadn't she suspected Aang's upcoming proposal to her as well, judging by his sneaking around with knives and precious stones. So, why did she want to scream in agony right now?

With difficulty she tore her gaze from the safe horizon to take a look at Zuko, whose face had hardened, a closed off expression on his features, as he gazed unseeingly at the seawater washing away the sand beneath his feet.

Katara squeezed shut her eyes, her fingers tightening around the plaster cast she was holding. "Should…"

She tried again, trying to force the words from her mouth, her voice hoarse and tense. "Should… should I congr…"

"What is it that you're holding in your hand?" Zuko suddenly roughly interrupted her, taking a hold on her lower arm, more fiercely than he would normally do. He lifted her arm and more gently, he bent back her contorted fingers. For a moment he was silent, then he said on a mock ironic tone in which the tension hadn't yet entirely disappeared: "So, this time you've found something that actually did belong to my childhood," remembering the cheerful picture of a pretty baby Katara had showed them, which turned out to be an old picture of his father.

He sighed and all sarcasm disappeared from his husky voice when he said: "My mother made it when I was about a year and half old, when we were on holiday on Ember Island, with my uncle and Lu Ten."

He folded back her fingers around the tablet, his warm hand staying to rest there.

"I really don't know where to start searching," he confessed softly, a little despair creeping into his voice. Katara looked at him sadly, then closed her eyes and pulled him against her. She wrapped her arms around him, his head coming to rest on her shoulder. A shiver went through both their bodies, as they took in the other one's sudden closeness and their hearts met each other in a mutual rhythm.

"I know," Katara whispered into the air. "We've come to the point where the trail has ended."

* * *

**A/N:** _At first I would want to point out that I received my very first fanart and it's beautiful piece too! The picture is drawn by Biag07 on dA and I'm so very honored that I wanted to share it with you. Here's the link: http : / biag07 . deviantart . com / art / quot - I - ll - light - them - for - you - quot - 119881530 (without spacings)._

_Then, although it has been a while, I wanted to reply to your reviews as well. I think I've said it countless times befor__e but hearing that people think that this story's good enough to be considered as the continuation of the actual show, makes me very glad. It's so much fun searching around in the Avatar world and pick little things from the series which I can use in the story. The excitement when I find something good is very addictive. What's also supportive in a way is the news which controlled half of dA this week, about a screencap of the factoids underneath the series which said: "Zuko was originally going to be the love interest for Katara." It confirms my efforts in trying to write a story worthy of Avatar and especially Zutara, which apparently had been the original ship after all. _

_Furthermore, I would like to thank Kagome1235 for wanting to share her views on Iroh's ties to the Spirit World. Diabolical Kitsutora asked about Suki. I will be returning to her next chapter, she's too much fun of a character to not let her embark on the Water Tribe fleet to the Fire Nation. And to answer Sweet Impact (I love that you copy paste sentences you like into your review!), Zuko bending lightening is downright brilliant. Especially if Katara triggers it. That's why I loved to write that scene. To conclude with Insane Muse: I'm very glad you like the plot twist of Ursa being in the Fire Nation. It's the last place where you would expect her to be, on the run ever since she got banished. Sadly, my story isn't canon indeed (although, I don't like Kataangers with pitchforks at my door), but I always try to explain things within the boundaries of the series._

_About this week's chapter:__ this chapter is a homecoming chapter for Zuko, after I've sent them to the South Pole before. The stars are literally calling him home. _

_The music I used in this week's chapter__ is from one of the finalists of the Eurovision Song contest (Estonia). It's a song in the tradition of Nightwish and Within Temptation and the lyrics actually fit Aang and Toph. _

_Then there is the boy from the woods. He's the spokesman for the people of the drums, who are the descendents of the survivors of Taku and it's not for nothing I named him Taiko, for a taiko is a __Japanese type of drums._

_The mentioning of Katara finding t__he plaster cast is a bit of reference to my very first fanfic ever, Clay Tablet (on to be found under my Zutara Shorts series). In this drabble Katara also finds Zuko's baby hand print and I liked the idea too much to not use it in a slightly changed form._ _In this chapter Zuko and Katara have arrived on Ember Island and start to realize this was the last clue in the trail to find the Spirit Princess. What way should they go now? Will their presence on Ember Island go by unnoticed? And what song do the drummers in the woods have been drumming? I hope you're all well and liked the chapter. Thank you very much for reading._


	37. Addicted

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 36: Addicted**

Music: Harry Gregson-Williams, The Door in the Air (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)

"Hey there, girly, still know me?"  
The young woman with the short, hazel tresses froze, her hand grabbing a hold on her katana's hilt, decorated with mokume-gane. Her gold armband gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. The women surrounding her slowly turned around, a disbelieving look on their faces. Which person addressed their leader with such disrespect? They looked at the silhouette of a young man standing at the entrance to the dojo, lonely against the wintery surroundings, the pine-trees and roofs covered with snow behind him.  
"Who dares to call me…" The young woman spun around and within a second trapped the man between her metal fans.

"Ow! Stop it, Suki! Stop!" He wailed as he looked with apparent mortal fear at the gleaming fans holding his face hostage.  
The young woman bowed forward, her violet eyes not understanding in the heavily painted face.  
"Sokka? What are you doing here?"  
"Way to welcome your fiancé, Suki," he moaned, as he unsuccessfully tried to free himself. "Would you mind?"

She blinked and a moment later the fans were gone. Sokka stumbled back, as the Kyoshi Warrior flung her arms around his neck. "Sokka!"  
His face softened as he stabilized himself, wrapping his arms around her as well. "Yes, it's me, Suki."  
For a moment they held each other tightly as the other women had discreetly retreated, then Suki withdrew, wiping away the tears. Some of her white make-up disappeared as well and a bit of her natural pale skin color was revealed. A shaken smile formed on her lips.  
"But that still doesn't answer my question. What are you doing here? I hadn't expected you until spring."  
Sokka made a mock indignant face. "Why? Can't a man visit his fiancé anymore?"  
But Suki stayed serious and his face fell.  
"It's Katara," he then said curtly.

---

"I can't believe we've ended up here."  
Katara arched her neck, her eyes wandering across the lavishly decorated, though a bit dingy, exterior of the theater building.  
Acknowledging they needed groceries, Zuko and Katara had decided to a pay a visit to the small village, which was tucked away in the lush green hinterland behind the rich beach houses of wealthy mainlanders, as the people living on the island called them. The paved road leading them to the village had been surrounded by palm trees and orchids flowering in countless different colors.

***

Two years ago, when they had been in hiding in the royal beach house, the village had been busy, a thriving little town where the rich mainlanders visited teahouses and the theater and their servants bought groceries. Now, the richly decorated carriages were gone and the teahouses had closed their doors for the winter. The mainlanders had left for their mansions in the capital city of Sozin. Only a few people walked around. Villagers, Katara had noticed, as they had looked down on the main street before entering the little town.  
Only now she had suddenly seen the beauty of the landscape surrounding the little village.

***

Her gaze stayed to rest on the yellowed poster of The Boy in the Iceberg. The merciless sunlight had faded Zuko's fiery scar, placed on the wrong side of his face, into an indistinct orange, while her own blue dress had turned into a muddy kind of grey. It didn't enhance the already unflattering picture.  
Next to her Zuko made an irritated noise, not paying attention to the disheveled poster. "I could have sworn…" he mumbled as he looked around not understandingly, a frown on his face. But Katara took a step closer, fascinated by the forgotten poster. Being rendered out of date, the poster was a silent leftover of the ridiculous Fire Nation propaganda this nation's people had lived with for more than a hundred years.  
"Do they still perform that play?" Katara interrupted his train of thoughts on where they had taken the wrong turn.  
Zuko looked up. "What? No," he replied as he followed her gaze. "The Ember Island Theater is on tour with their new play."

Katara for a moment stayed silent as her gaze returned to the poster. Somehow the almost perished picture made her think about the time past since the moment they had all gone to see the dreadful play.  
She remembered the last time she had looked up at the theater's façade. The lights had cast a soft glow on the people, excited for the play, her friends dressed unrecognizably, the dark silhouette of this cloaked figure nearby…  
From the corner of her eyes she took a peek at Zuko, almost expecting to meet with the restless golden gaze of Zuko the boy, the scar hidden in the shadows of a hood, only to see the calmer topaz gaze of Zuko the man, his scar hidden behind a strand of hair. No, this wasn't like two years ago, when they had put their first hesitant steps toward a fragile friendship. This was present time, when their bond couldn't have been more secure, unless…

A painful jolt of her heart made her look away, remembering what he had said and hadn't said about Mai on the beach… The possibility of Zuko already being engaged to Mai had shocked her more than she had expected or wanted to admit.  
An overwhelming dizziness had been washing over her as her heart screamed in agony. But her mind had tried to reason with her feelings, telling her it was only natural for Zuko wanting to marry his girlfriend, to forget about the fiery pain tearing her apart…  
She had slept horribly that night, tossing and turning in her sleep until Zuko had pulled her tightly against him, caressing her hair, willing her to calm down. Feeling his arms hold her added to her sadness but had also helped to put to rest her raw despair and finally she had fallen to sleep.

"They have returned to their old topic again," Zuko informed her, not seeing her dejected gaze as he continued looking around searchingly. "Dragons."  
Katara lifted her eyebrows, grateful for the distraction. "Dragons?"  
Zuko for the last time looked around, then finally found what he searched for: the little stand of a greengrocer. With a triumphant grin he stepped away from the old theater, motioning Katara to follow him.

"Yeah, dragons," he replied, casting a look on her as he walked on. "Remember when I said my mother used to take me to see the play 'Love Among the Dragons' each and every year?" He sounded horrified and Katara smirked. Indeed she remembered.  
"It seems they have discovered about the golden artifact in the Sun Warrior's ruins."

Having gotten his own suspicions confirmed only half a year before he was send on this journey with Katara, he had always wondered how the troupe had found out about that, but the Ember Island Theater always seemed to be better informed than even his own secret intelligence service.  
"What about it?" Katara asked as she bowed forward to pick up a white cabbage. The old woman behind the stand smiled a toothless smile.  
Zuko for a moment watched as Katara collected several vegetables, enough for at least a week and paid for them. What he was going to say was classified information.  
"It's an egg, Katara."

---

With firm, small hands Toph clenched Aang's back, pressing her body against his while he made a sharp turn with his glider. She shivered and squeezed her eyes shut as she enjoyed the feeling of the ice cold air through her hair, leaving a tingling feeling in her ears.  
Toph had always treasured the moments Aang had taken her for a flight and at this moment she realized how much in fact she had missed those, being imprisoned in Iroh's small Upper Ring house all this time.  
Aang for a moment rested his chin on her head when he felt her grabbing him more firmly. "We're almost there," his gentle voice sounded from above her. "Are you alright?"  
Toph could only nod, letting her thoughts drift away in the knowledge she could completely entrust Aang with her life.

She dug her fingers into his back, feeling her heartbeat accelerate as he subconsciously let out a small groan. She was glad he couldn't see her blush.  
A sudden melancholy overwhelmed her as she clung to Aang, her heart going out to the young man who now brought her away from the worries, escaping from the bad dreams. Reassuring her, like he always had done for her, like the time after Aang's visit to the Spirit World, when Sokka had stubbornly held onto his pubescent sturdy image, but Aang had taken her hand, reassuring her that friendship could transcendent lifetimes. No boy, not even Sokka, had touched her with such care before, making her feel loved… and wanted.

After that moment she had been able to step back a little from her obsession with the charming Water Tribe boy, and quietly started to observe how his bravura melted away when he was with Suki, feeling his heartbeat quicken with every time the Kyoshi Warrior smiled at him. Whenever Suki was near him, Toph could suddenly see a gentle, more vulnerable Sokka, opening up to her, like he had never done to Toph whom he usually treated like a younger brother. And it had saddened her.  
But then a year ago, Team Avatar had decided for a reunion at the Western Air Temple to celebrate the start of the airbenders' season. She remembered the wind had still been warm, but the air filled with a scent of leaves falling and smoking campfires promised the arrival of a colder season.

***

It was then it had happened.  
The petite earthbender, heading for the campfire where Katara would serve dinner, had suddenly run into Sokka and Suki, kissing each other passionately behind a pillar, thinking they had chosen an unseen place.  
Toph had frozen, remaining rooted to her spot, as she unwillingly listened to the excited heartbeats of the two lovers, not knowing what to do.  
Then she had suddenly felt a hand gently taking her by her arm, as a gentle voice said softly: "I think you've seen enough," and she let herself been led away.

At a safe distance the young Avatar had turned around, not letting go of her hand. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I know how you feel about Sokka…"  
But Toph had only stared at where his voice came from, her pale, unseeing eyes widened in shock. And as she felt his soft hand on her arm, sensing his presence and the scent of fresh air and freedom he always seemed to carry with him, she suddenly realized she wasn't thinking about Sokka at all. She had been shocked to encounter him and Suki at this clearly intimate moment, but as she gasped softly, with a painful bolt of insight she recognized the calming yet encouraging influence Aang's mere presence had on her.  
An influence she had only sensed before with Sokka and Suki and… Zuko and Katara, before they both had decided to turn away from each other, the honesty disappearing behind a veil of socially accepted but false, disturbing sentiments. Giving in to both Mai and Aang's obsessive addiction, becoming the image they had of them, loved about them. And forgot about themselves.

"No… it's alright," she had answered with a hoarse voice, shaking her head.  
Aang had eyed her worriedly, putting his hands on her shoulders, causing Toph's eyes to flutter close, trembling.  
"Are you sure? You seem pretty upset," he urged, tugging a strand of her stubborn black bang behind her ear and Toph only nodded mutely. With a hesitant nod Aang for the last time had squeezed her hand encouragingly and disappeared.  
And as his footsteps had died away in the empty corridor, Toph had taken a deep, shaking breath, feeling her mentor approach from the shadowy corridors.  
"So, you've come to the realization."

***

"We're there."  
Aang had landed softly on a snowy hillside at the outmost boarders of the city of Ba Sing Se. "Like I said: room for giant snowmen and airball with rocks!"  
Toph slowly let go of him and turned around. He hadn't said too much. The place was indeed wonderful. The crystalline snow surrounding her felt untouched, but still she could sense her element beneath the airy structure. She could sense he had brought her to a place almost near the outer ring. A smile appeared on her lips.  
"It's perfect."

---

With absent-minded movements Zuko filled a trough with water for Appa, after having shaken out a stack of hay. The enormous bison was located in a far corner of the komodo-rhinos' stables. He looked like a big, fluffy ball pressed into a small box and he didn't seemed too happy about it, being stuck with the cunning looks of the komodo-rhinos fixed on him. Two years ago, these stables had still been empty, but now the Fire Lord had taken responsibility for the house again.

"I'm sorry, boy, but I promise we're going to leave soon," Zuko mumbled apologizing to Appa, who grumbled softly, "as soon as we know where to go."  
Zuko wiped his forehead and for a moment leaned against the carved pillar, staring at the courtyard outside coloring red in the last rays of the sun, his gaze hard.  
Since the moment they had arrived on Ember Island he had felt desperation creeping into his firm believe they would find his mother and save the Order of the White Lotus. So much time they had spend in Senlin Harbor, but now he knew they had put too much trust into the expectation someone would come to their aid with the next clue when the time was right. It had only been luck which had brought them further so easily until now. And now they had to figure it out on themselves.

A string of water floated past the entrance. Katara. Despite himself, a small smile appeared on his regular features.

His thoughts wandered back to this morning on the beach and he sighed. Why had he told her about his plans to propose to Mai, while he himself knew by now his words were hollow, having lost all meaning the moment he had first realized his feelings for Katara, kissed Katara?  
Then again, something inside him had suddenly remembered him to the fact that hadn't his uncle sent them on this journey, it would have been his wedding day when he would have seen Katara again. And that knowledge had depressed him more than he could ever fathom.  
Vaguely hearing Katara softly saying something, he had wanted to get rid of that feeling as soon as possible and interrupted her, quickly changing the subject, but he didn't fail to see the devastated look in her eyes, accompanying her hoarse whisper. And he couldn't help but wondering what it was she had been thinking of at that moment.

With a satisfied gaze Katara eyed the clean clothing lying in her basket, the red silk gleaming softly in the last remainder of the sunlight. Then she let the string of water disappear into the gutter.  
This way nobody, not even a housekeeper, would notice their presence in the royal beach house.

She picked up the basket, but a low grumble from the stables made her turn around, her thoughts reaching for the one feeding the giant bison, as her gaze turned melancholic.  
Last night Zuko had painfully reminded her of the world outside their travels. No, she corrected herself sternly, he had reminded her of his completely acceptable ties to Mai.  
Ties Katara had slowly, but very easily started to forget as she had silently struggled with her feelings of obligation toward Aang, backing out of every contact bringing her closer to her quiet, firebending travelling companion, he had always been there for her, waiting for her to make up her mind. Now, he had suddenly revealed that the certainty with which she had come to rely on his much clearer state of mind concerning the two of them, wasn't as solid as she had imagined, wished for it to be.

Suddenly, she had realized he was as torn as she was, imprisoned between his obligations toward Mai, his nation and the growing closeness to the Avatar's girlfriend.  
Something Zuko had said earlier that day suddenly came to mind again. The name of the play he had been talking about.  
'Love amongst the dragons.'  
And as Katara soundlessly walked up the stairs, she wondered with a raw feeling in her heart to whom in their world the title would apply to.

---

Darkness had fallen over Ember Island and the moon cast streaks of cold light across the black water of the sea. The beach was abandoned but for two silent figures sitting near the shore, their silhouettes glowing silver in the pale moonlight. Sometimes a small flame would light up and a muffled giggle would break though the silence as a glistening ribbon of water would extinguish the golden fire.  
Then the two young people fell silent, sitting motionlessly as they stared into the deep darkness before them.

Katara with a sigh pulled her cloak tighter around her and slowly lay her head to rest on Zuko's shoulder, a worried frown between her brows. She tried not to think about the possibility that in the future it would be Mai resting her head on his shoulder like that. A small sigh escaped her when he put his arm around her small shoulders, burying his hand into her curls. Her shoulders slowly relaxed.

Zuko looked down on Katara, a worried look in his eyes. He had felt the tension leaving her shoulders when he pulled her against him and he wondered if she felt the same melancholy weighing on him.  
Less than a week was left for them to find his mother. For them to travel together for the purpose to save the Order of the White Lotus. For them to spend precious time together…

"One time two old ladies said about Ember Island that it's a magical place. If you keep an open mind... it can help you understand yourself and each other," Katara heard him say gently, feeling his voice vibrating through his body. His tone didn't betray anything, but she had the feeling the words bore more meaning to him than he let on.  
For a moment she didn't react, closing her eyes as she realized she had already come to understand Zuko better than any other person in his life would be able to, knowing she would never find someone understanding her better than he did. But would that lead them anywhere?  
"Then maybe now is a good time to try and figure out your uncle's rhyme," she changed subjects, pulling a disheveled piece of paper out of the folds of her cloak. "And maybe the song will provide us with a clue to find your mother."

Zuko bowed his head, as a sudden hope flared up, distracting him from his downcast feelings, and pulled something out of his cloak too. When he opened his hand, he revealed a small object lying in his palm. It was a stick, made of four different materials on each side.  
Rock and wood were facing each other, as were gold and silver. And in the materials different characters were carved. But the most interesting part was the band of mother of pearl on which someone with painstakingly effort had painted complicated characters. Ancient, like the ones on the little note.  
It was a special artifact the Black Clock had presented them with.

"And here I expected the key to be metaphorical."  
"With the Order things are never as you expect them to be," Zuko nodded and warily turned around the stick, the inscriptions gleaming in the moonlight.  
"So, what clues did we receive on your uncle's message?" Katara asked thoughtfully, her eyes not averting from the mysterious keystone.  
"Aside from the key?" Zuko took over the note. "Apparently it's a song we're looking for. A common one, if I remember correctly."  
"About seasons," Katara supplied, "and with this peculiar rhythm."  
"Which I absolutely recognized." Zuko sighed. "But at the same time can't remember. If only I had paid a little more attention at music night."

Katara thoughtfully cast a glance at the quiet sea in front of them. "Perhaps it's for the best we didn't recognize the song directly, so we can learn to understand the language of the White Lotus ourselves…"  
"At least this will help." Zuko brought the stick closer for examination. "It really is an extraordinary piece of artwork. And very old. I think the Black Clock has given us his only possession of value…"  
A sapphire gaze met with a liquid gold one. "We'll get it back to him," they said simultaneously, then smiled at each other.

"So… how to use this thing?" Katara watched Zuko turning the stick around and around, trying to read the inscriptions, when suddenly she recognized two characters. Acting on impulse, she put her small hand over his, a blush creeping to her cheeks when she met with his surprised gaze, but not pulling back.  
"The characters for summer and winter," she whispered a little breathlessly and her index-finger slid across the back of his hand, turning the stick around so the shiny surfaces of the gold and silver sides appeared. On top of each string of characters the symbol for the season in the ancient tongue of their respective nations was carved out.

"You're right!" Zuko said excitedly. "Then this must be the ancient Earth Kingdom word for spring," the rock side was turned upwards, "and this," another turn and now the wooden side showed its carvings, "is the Air Nomad word for autumn."  
"And the mother of pearl in the middle provides the key for translating the language of the White Lotus," Katara whispered, as an impressed smile appeared upon her lips.

And as the moon rose high in the sky, as always accompanied by the gentle flickering Polar Star, the travelers solved the mystery which had been with them ever since they had commenced this journey. Zuko had smoothed out part of the wet sand near the shore and now wrote down the text, using the keystone for translation.  
Finally he stepped back and together they silently stared at the ground before them, as the wind gently played with their light silk clothing.

Zuko closed his eyes as he let the lyrics sink in, cursing himself for not recognizing it earlier and Katara clenched the keystone, trying to understand the deeper meaning behind the song she had heard not too long ago, sung by two little girls in Senlin Village.

Winter, spring, summer and fall,  
Winter, spring, summer and fall,  
Four seasons, four loves,  
Four seasons, for love.

---

Katara's eyes shot open, staring wide-open at the dark silk canopy above her, her chest laboring as she slowly regained consciousness, becoming aware of her surroundings and Zuko's soft breathing against her shoulder while his arm lay gently across her stomach.  
A trembling sigh escaped her. It had only been a dream. A confusing dream in which two twirling girls sang a fast version of the Four Seasons song, while dancing around her, then slowly changed into The Painted Lady and the Moon Spirit.

***

Their red and blue gowns whirled around them as they danced, coming closer and closer, when suddenly a person appeared before her, only to disappear again as soon as Katara recognized the gentle green eyes, set in pale, melancholy features and framed by chestnut hair. Haru. She tried to step forward but he only looked at her and was concealed by the cloudy dresses whirling around both of the spirits coming closer. A feeling of sadness came over her, as she caught his small, understanding smile before he disappeared into the nothing.

Then she had felt a hand on her shoulder and her breath had caught when the crooked smile of Jet had appeared in her eyesight, his dark eyes glistening mischievous as the wind played with his messy dark brown hair. But before she could overcome the painful jolt of her heart to speak, he too vanished in the endless nothing the spirits created around her.

Katara stepped backward, trying to escape the small circle holding her prison. "What is going on here?" She cried out to the spirits who remained silent, a serene smile on their beautiful faces as they watched Katara's unsuccessful attempts to escape.

But her hands only met with the clouds surrounding the spirits, creating an invisible wall around her. She stepped back, a desperate expression on her face when she suddenly felt a kiss pressed onto her cheek, chaste but longing at the same time. Spinning around she met with the adoring smile of a bald airbender, his grey eyes looking up at her in a trusting way, a way that broke her heart and made her feel inexplicably angry at the same time.

"Aang!" She shouted and tried to grasp him, holding on to the young Avatar who would get her out of here for sure. But when she was about to touch his arms, his arrows and eyes lit up and Katara stumbled back, shielding her eyes against the blinding light with her arms as she painfully hit the ground, where she remained, a sad young woman, confused and hurt. "No," she whispered and it sounded like a sigh.

That was when she felt two arms being wrapped around her, strong but gentle at the same time. She looked up to see a pair of golden eyes, one perfect, one disheveled. A hesitant smile lit up his somewhat hard features.  
Tears had started to run down her cheeks and Katara had felt her heart open up to him who pulled her against him, bowing her head against his chest to shield her from the raging storm the Avatar State created around them. The spirits had disappeared from their sight.  
"I… I can stop him. Let go of me, Zuko. I can stop him. I know I can." Katara put her hands against his chest and looked up.  
"You can't help him anymore, Katara," a soft melodic voice which sounded as the voices of The Painted Lady and Princess Yue combined answered her. "You have to let go."  
Then all had gone black.

***

Katara warily turned her head to the side and for a moment silently looked at Zuko's sleeping face. She still remembered the utmost joy she had felt when he had come for her in that horrid, confusing dream, bigger than the gladness she had felt to see the other faces before him. She felt utterly lost. Why had the spirits send her this dream, presenting to her all those young men who all held a certain place in her heart? And why did the feeling linger that she had come to a decisive point in her life?

Slowly, Katara lifted her hand from the downy blanket and reached to caress his cheek ultimately tracing the soft line of his lips. When he withdrew in a small reflex, she pulled back and threw back the blankets. But when she made a movement to get out of bed, she stopped and turned around. Then, bowing forward again she brought her face close to his ear and whispered: "I'll be at the beach," feeling the warmth of his skin kiss her sensitive lips. As her bottom lip left his ear-lobe last she slid out of bed.

Zuko rolled over, turning towards what was caressing him, extending his arm, but he only met with smooth silk. His eyes fluttered open, fixing on the empty pillow next to him. She was gone.  
Quickly he sat up straight, scanning the dark room for any sign from Katara, noticing the night hadn't fully past yet.  
"Katara?" His voice sounded lonely in the large room and was only met with silence. With sudden fierce movements he stood up and did a step into the direction of the door, when he froze. Something, an inexplicable feeling, almost like a memory, made him turn around and head for the window instead, pulling away the heavy curtains.

Immediately a wave of cold light poured into the room, turning everything in his surrounding to silver.  
His gaze was drawn toward the source of the soft light shining down onto the sleeping world, seeing the darker spots in her heart and he knew that by the end of the week she would have reached completion for the last time of the season.

His heart wrenched as he thought about his mother. He had been so hopeful his uncle's riddle would at least give them a small clue about where to start searching, but all the older man had provided them with, was another mystery. A deeper meaning hiding behind an ordinary song, they didn't understand.  
Although, as Zuko's eyes now slowly followed the pale beams of light, coming to rest upon a lithe figure standing at the shore, he had the feeling Katara somehow did seem to feel what Iroh had been hinting at.

…the beach has a way of smoothing even the most ragged edges…  
Katara had been so shocked and confused this afternoon, when reading the lyrics he had written down in the sand. Although the song wasn't as known to her as it was to Zuko, Katara had recognized it nonetheless.  
"Winter, spring, summer and fall…" she had read out loud and shook her head vigorously. "This doesn't make sense. What do I have to understand about this song? What is there to understand?"  
She had looked at him but fell silent when all she saw was the expression of deep disappointment when he realized this rhyme wasn't going to help them any further in their search for his mother.

For a moment, he leaned his elbows on the windowsill, resting his chin on his hands as he looked at the waterbender down below.  
Her feet had become invisible underneath the surface as she bent the water around her, face turned toward the moon and eyes closed, her hair glowing silver dancing around her like a cloud. She looked like the Ocean Spirit who protected her people, as Tui blessed her beloved child with a moonlight kiss.  
Katara performed one of her famous octopus movements, the flowing ribbons reaching for the moon like living, glistening crystals.  
And as Zuko silently looked down on the serene scenery, all he felt was a deep sense of longing to go downstairs and be with the unearthly waterbender bending the Ember Island Sea.

Zuko was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw the octopus fall apart and reform in a brilliant ribbon whirling around Katara then suddenly started to describe a beautiful flight across the beach. His breath caught. And as he mesmerized followed the water with widened eyes, the crystal dragon continued its powerful dance.

Katara held her eyes closed as she directed the string of water across the beach, only feeling the power of the moon flow through her hands and into the ribbon, which for some reason had taken the form of a dragon, moving through the air like the ancient dragons used to do when they weren't on the brink of extinction. Fear of being discovered had vanished to make place for a freeing feeling of joy.

With a small smile on her face she waved her arm and the dragon made an elegant turn to return to its master, when she felt some new presence around the water, making contact, supporting it while inviting it to play along. For a moment she froze, then her smile broadened and she slowly opened her eyes seeing a fiery burning dragon circling around her own, setting the whole environment in a golden light. He had come after her.

For a moment they didn't speak, only following the dragons, shining red and blue in the pale moonlight, on their dance through the dark night sky. They curled around each other, whirling through the air in a pattern which wasn't set but came from the movement the other dragon made. And on the beach two silent figures mirrored the heavenly dance on earth; one with thoughtful, elegant moves, the other one with powerful, fiery ones.

Then the water dragon and fire dragon made a final turn, completing their loving dance.  
"Couldn't sleep?" she softly asked the person standing behind her as her water dragon elegantly bowed toward the other dragon.  
And as the fire dragon mirrored the water dragon's pose, Zuko answered: "Care for another firebending lesson?"

Katara unwillingly gasped and immediately lost control of her dragon as she remembered the coronation night they all had spend on the beach.  
The touch of his hands on her belly as he taught her how to make a spin… She swallowed with difficulty as her dragon changed into a silvery cloud in the sky, moving toward the moon, vanishing before reaching it.

The fire dragon for a moment seemed lost without its companion then elegantly turned around to face Katara, slowly coming closer, trapping her between his fiery expression and Zuko. Mesmerized she stared into the burning eyes, looking at her with a calm yet demanding gaze, which then suddenly seemed to turn into the understanding gaze of the Painted Lady.  
Katara's eyes widened, but when she blinked the moment was gone.

Closing her eyes, she readied herself and breathed in deeply, before she said: "Do I need one, then?"  
Then with a powerful movement, she jumped into the air and as her feet spun around she sent a fierce wave of water at Zuko, who stumbled back and fell, his dragon disappearing in the night as well. Darkness enveloped them again. It took a moment before Zuko resurfaced again, coughing vigorously.

"The movement altogether isn't that difficult, it's all in the balance, really," Katara said sweetly as she approached him, the hems of her nightgown dragging after her in the water. She closed, but for a few steps, what distance there was between them, and patiently, innocently looked up at him, waiting for him to recover from his sudden bath.  
him, her hands on her back. That little…  
"Exactly," he then replied softly, a strange expression of concentration in his serious golden gaze.

The next moment Katara felt her feet swooped from underneath her and with a yelp she fell into the lukewarm water. A soft laughter reached her ears as she wiped her hair out of her eyes, annoyed and confused. Looking up at his content expression, arms crossed before his chest as he straightened up again, she suddenly realized this was actually the first time she had ever seen him playful, pulling a prank on her and being smug about it. Her features softened.

Zuko uncrossed his arms as he saw her expression change and a smile appear in her large, blue eyes. Hesitantly he did a step forward.  
"Since you are so good at firebending, what about a lesson in waterbending, instead?" He quietly suggested, taking a strand of her long hair between his fingers, caressing it.  
Katara's eyes widened, breathing in his scent of spices and smoke, now softened by the salty seawater, as she motionlessly enjoyed the feeling of his fingers weaving through her hair.

Zuko looked down on the waterbender, subconsciously bracing himself for her rejection, expecting that look of guilt she always got when she clearly started to think about Aang, the boyfriend she had left behind. That horrid look which every time reminded him of her ties to the Avatar. A look which only once had disappeared behind an expression of love and passion. Every time he closed his eyes he tried to recall that moment, fearing but already accepting the fact that he would probably would have to do a whole lifetime with that one moment.

But as she looked up at him, he didn't see guilt in her eyes. Instead, she seemed torn, the pain clear behind the sapphire gleam.  
She stared at him with her large eyes, her thoughts somewhere else. But where? Not with the Avatar, he felt.  
"I just want to know one thing," she finally said and swallowed again. It seemed to hurt and his heart wrenched for her. "Can… must I congratulate you?"

His hand froze in her hair and Katara's heart beat unsteadily as she awaited his answer, fearful watching a frown appear on his features, his aloof expression returning. He slightly bowed his head, as if he regretted being reminded of something he didn't want to be reminded to.  
She held her breath. Then, as he looked up, his features softened.  
"No," he replied quietly but firmly and as the passing clouds revealed the moon behind them again, he pulled Katara close. For a moment they only looked at each other, faces only inches away from each other, drowning in sapphire and topaz gazes. Then Katara gave in and closed the last distance between them.

---

"What are you two doing here?"  
Katara woke with the sound of an old woman's voice, shrill and creaking in her ears. "You have no business here!"  
A foot painfully kicked her against her shins and Zuko reacted before she realized he had woken up.  
Katara felt a dull bang vibrating through the sand and the woman started to yell. "Why you spoiled brat! How dare you! This part of the beach belongs to the Fire Lord. Oh, if I had your age…"  
"You still wouldn't have taken me by surprise and this beach is not yours to protect." Zuko stood up and wiped the sand from his shorts.  
He felt grumpy. He had been dreaming wonderfully, about him and Katara being back in the palace in Sozin, enjoying what seemed to be marriage… Until this old hag had decided to roughly pull him back from his slumber, kicking the woman he was dreaming about.  
He looked at Katara who seemed just as overwhelmed by the harsh treatment as he was.

She sat up straight, careful to avoid the furious old woman and cast a look at the bright blue sea, so different from the never ending darkness of the night. They must have fallen asleep on the beach. She sighed.

It had been wonderful, kissing him under the moonlight, like she vaguely had wanted to do on that special night of the coronation, when he had taught her a lesson in firebending. Weaving her small hands through his soaked hair, feeling his warmth through the silk plastered to their bodies, tasting the salt from his lips.  
Katara never before had experienced the strong feeling of gratitude and relief pouring from her heart, when he had denied being engaged to Mai.

***

She had tightened her hold on him, the relief fueling her passion and as soon as their lips had touched, she had sought to deepen the kiss, sighing softly as he silently answered. She had felt his hand entangle in her hair, while the other one glided across her back, stroking it in gentle circles. On their own accord her hands had cupped his face, enjoying the form of his jaw-line in her palms, then started to wander across his neck and shoulders. She felt him shiver when she pressed herself more tightly against his chest as her hands mirrored his on his back.

That was the moment he had broken the kiss, looking at her for a moment, then started to place feather light kisses on the corners of her mouth, trailing down her jaw-line, following her arching neck below the sensitive spot underneath her ear-lobe. His lips had explored her cool skin down her graceful neck until met with her collar bone. Then he had halted and sighed, as Katara closed her eyes, feeling the regret burn in her throat when he stepped back.  
The remainder of the night they had stayed to sleep on the beach, but they had stayed out of each other's arms.

***

"Who the hell do you think you are? I am the housekeeper of this place, appointed by the Fire Lord himself!" The shrieking voice pulled Katara out of her thoughts and she turned around, seeing that Zuko looked just as crumpled up as she did, the sand in his hair giving it an ashen look. She couldn't hold back an amused smile as she pulled straight her nightgown and went to stand next to him.

"That must have been the previous Fire Lord then, since I don't remember you," Zuko spoke curtly and the frown between the old woman's eyebrow deepened.  
"Of course it wasn't him. He wasn't even born yet when Fire Lord Azulon appointed me, when the old housekeeper had died of old age. And I don't see why you have to remember me… unless, I have send you away before."  
She came forward, squinting as she looked up at him with her short-sighted eyes. "Yes, you do look like one of those boys who were trying to get into the house the other day."

Zuko stepped back, hiding the disheveled side of his face behind his hair, as his gaze met with Katara's. She looked just as shocked.  
"What do you mean, old lady?" She asked friendly, trying to get her to talk.  
The woman turned around, waving her finger right under Zuko's nose. "As if this one wouldn't know!"  
"I never…" Zuko started, but the old woman already turned toward Katara.  
"No missy, you're getting yourself involved with a bad man…" she cast a dirty look at Zuko, who opened his mouth, then closed it again.  
"Trying to break into the house of the Fire Lord himself. Now do I ask you… No respect, these days…" her sentence ended in incoherent mumbling.

Zuko desperately rolled his eyes at Katara, who grinned.  
"I mean that he and that friend of his tried to fool me a couple of days ago. Trying to get inside of the beach house for some reason. I don't know why but they were talking about some group of nobles and then one mentioned some Earth Kingdom port, what's it called…"  
"Senlin Harbor?" Katara asked with a sudden fear in her heart.  
"Yes, that one," the woman nodded satisfied and began to walk toward the beach house again, expecting them to follow. "It sounded as if they weren't too happy."  
Katara cast a glance over her shoulder, looking at Zuko who came to walk next to her, a shocked look in his eyes.  
"I came back to the house to check if they were hadn't come back and," she turned toward Zuko, swiftly for her age, "here you are again!"

Katara looked with a questioning gaze at Zuko, but he silently shook his head at her. Better to let the woman think he was one of those trespassers.  
"For more than fifty years I've taken care of this house during winters, even during the reign of Fire Lord Ozai when no one came to visit this house anymore." The old woman stood still and looked at the mansion's façade. "The beach house has been restored beautifully now. Ember Island is grateful to the new Fire Lord, because his presence has brought new tourists to the island."  
Zuko grinned sheepishly behind her back. Her welcome hadn't felt as grateful though.

"So, did these boys do something special?" Katara asked casually as she too admired the beach house, hoping the old woman didn't want to go inside. She would notice their traces for sure.  
"Hmm, they tried to get inside, just when I opened the door. I shouted for them to leave, but they were so startled that they had fled before I had finished."  
"I can understand that," Zuko mumbled under his breath, but in the mean time felt grateful for this frightful old woman protecting his house. He would make sure she would meet with him when this was all over. He didn't dare to think about who would be standing next to him by then.

Katara with a soft hand then led the woman toward the road, talking softly to her while helping her with climbing the steps. The woman didn't seem to notice she was being distracted and when they had reached the entry, which Katara subtly blocked by demonstratively standing still on the road, she patted Katara on the arm appreciatively. Zuko kept himself at distance.

"You're a good girl," the old woman said, "make sure you don't get interfered with the likes of him." Her golden gaze shot fire when she looked at Zuko, who bowed his head remorseful.  
"I will," Katara promised, not completely succeeding in hiding her amusement.  
"I will be going now. The old Ta Min house is waiting for my inspection."  
She slowly started to shuffle away.

Katara's eyes widened in shock and Zuko audibly sucked in his breath. Then their eyes met. Ta Min. It couldn't be…  
"Excuse me," Katara called after the woman, "who do you mean with Ta Min?"  
The woman turned around. "Why, Ta Min who was Avatar Roku's wife, of course. She lived here on the island after her husband had died. I take care of the house on request of the family."

---

**A/N:** _At first I want to thank all of you who have reviewed previous chapter! I'm very glad you all liked the chapter so much, since it's a transition chapter between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. And I'm very glad to hear when people get excited to find another chapter in their mailbox. I'm also very grateful for all your kind words on the loss of my brother-in-law. They are all very supporting._

_A lot of you commented on Toph and Aang running away again. I felt like they needed a short break before actually going into the Spirit World. And it gave me the possibility on giving some background information on Toph's shift of attention from Sokka to Aang, which would be more difficult to explain when they would actually arrive in the Spirit World. Also, a lot of you were dying to know what would happen between Katara and Zuko after the whole proposing thing and then Zuko casually telling Katara he was planning on marrying Mai soon. Planning on, because as you have read, he didn't actually propose to her. _

_About this chapter:_

_In this chapter Addicted I also incorporated previous prompts Gold and Lifetime._

_For the Gold prompt I got inspiration from the description of a Japanese technique of handling gold called mokume-gane, which is a mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns. Literally translating as "wood eye (i.e., burl) metal", the name was borrowed from one type of pattern created in the forging of swords and other edged weapons.  
Perfect for Suki's katana I thought._

_Lifetime comes back within Toph's memory about Aang's travel to the Spirit World, which is the most beautiful example of use of the word lifetime in the show and Zuko contemplating his future without Katara._

_And concerning Addicted, well, to me that's the only word with which to describe Aang and Mai's adoration for Katara and Zuko._

_Ah, they have finally discovered what's on the note Iroh gave them. Can you believe I had to keep that quiet since the moment I introduced the darn thing? That's about, let me see, thirty chapters ago? Then again, to find out about it does not mean to understand it, as this chapter shows._

_And they have their hint. It's the house of Zuko's great grandmother Ta Min they have to be looking for. I'm very pleased with being able to bring in new plot elements, like Ta Min and the dragons' egg._

_And they kiss... A very passionate one this time on the Ember Island beach, with no icecreams nearby to spoil it._

_The music this time is from Narnia again but this time from the soundtrack of Prince Caspian. Beautiful tension building track to my opinion._

_Writing this chapter took longer than normally, since it's still difficult for me to find the right form and my new job having started too, I had to slow things down a bit, although the chapter has become very large, so I hope you'll forgive me._

_Thank you all for reading and please review. I always love reviews.  
_


	38. Sudoku Pizza

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 37: Sudoku/Pizza**

Music: Harry Gregson-Williams, The Kings and Queens of Old (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)

"There she goes."  
Carefully Katara pushed away a few leaves from the rhododendron as her eyes followed the old lady shuffling away from the front door. Her legs felt numb after the nasty stinging feeling during the long time she had spend in crouched position. The old woman had taken a long time checking a house in where apparently nobody live in, lingering on the elegantly wrought iron bench in front of the white plastered house as she enjoyed the view on orchids and late flowering hydrangeas, before going on the long way home.

Katara couldn't blame her. She had never seen such an adorable place in her life. Situated on a cliff with the sound of the sea never fading, the white plastered house lay amidst a garden of flowers, surrounded by tropical palm trees silently standing guard. Clematises and honeysuckle wind themselves up the walls, framing the windows and disappearing underneath the elegantly curled roof. In front of the house lay a small pond surrounded by fire lilies. The leaves of a water lily which had finished flowering, majestically rested upon the quiet surface.  
It was a tranquil and peaceful place.

Next to her Zuko sat quietly, a thoughtful expression on his face as he in all his might tried to remember if his mother had ever taken him to this place, the house of his great-grandmother Ta Min, wife to Avatar Roku, Princess Ursa's grandfather.  
It looked like a place his mother would have liked to visit and a sudden hope flared up fiercely inside him, as he focused on the mahogany front door, decorated with carvings of fire lilies. Somehow, the house and its environment heavily reminded him of the quiet refinement of Katara's chambers in the Southern Water Tribe Palace.

A soft voice made him avert his gaze to the young woman kneeling down beside him.  
"Have you ever been here before?"  
Zuko shook his head, for a moment following the retreating old woman with his eyes. "No, I try to remember, but I can't recall that I've ever been here. And I don't think I would have forgotten about it if I had."  
Katara smiled at his gruff expression. "You're right, it's a magical place."

A sudden shyness passed over his face. "What about the family the old woman talked about?"  
"She must have meant my mother with that," Zuko said as they warily stepped away from the rhododendrons. "Beside several distant cousins from both families my mother is the only direct family left from Ta Min and Avatar Roku."

The tranquil half-light of the living room was disturbed by a bright ray of sunlight causing millions of dust particles to sparkle in its trail, when the front door soundlessly slid open and soft steps landed upon the polished wooden floor, leaving marks in the layer of dust covering it.  
Hesitantly the footsteps moved through the modest living room, accompanied by a soft breathing. The room was comfortably furnished, elegantly but not excessively. It was the house of a widowed noble woman, having retreated after her husband had died, needing only the bright green forests for protecting her and the subtropical sea in front of her.  
One pair of footsteps turned around and a hand was placed upon an elegantly carved chair.

"I can't believe my mother never has told me about it," Zuko mumbled. His golden eyes showed the confusion of someone who had always been, or at least had always been under the impression, of being confided in everything by his mother.  
Katara's gaze went from the calming pale red colors of the cushions near her feat, the young man standing in the middle, looking forlorn.  
"Well, maybe she didn't want you to know about it, so you couldn't tell it on," she said warily, a sympathetic edge to her voice. "After all, you were very young."  
Zuko after a moment nodded hesitantly, not completely convinced. "I'm sure that must be it," he mumbled and ran his hand through his hair.

***

Zuko and Katara's footsteps left a trail as they quietly went up the small staircase. Only three doors joined the narrow corridor.  
Katara's eyes went from one door to another, then with a nod toward Zuko she chose the door nearest to her.  
Then both their mouths fell open.

In the room they had come face to face with a large cherry-wood bed, made with silk sheets and a red canopy above it. Figures of dragons, like Katara had seen carved into Zuko's bed, held up the dusty, silk canopy. But the most beautiful about it was the head of the bed, two dragons forming a heart while holding a dull gold plated sun in between them.

"Love amongst the dragons," Zuko whispered next to her, his voice full of surprise and Katara blinked, clapping her mouth shut.  
Hesitantly she approached the bed and stretched out her hand, wiping some of the dust from the golden sun, immediately causing it to sparkle when a ray of sunlight came through the closed shutters.

"It's the most important legend in our nation and it's about harmony. It was my mother's favorite story," Zuko said softly as his eyes followed Katara's movements.  
Katara looked up, her hand resting on one of the dragon's heads. "You've known about this house all along. Your mother has told you about it through her stories."  
Zuko sent her one of his rare, genuinely happy smiles and Katara felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. Shyly she looked out of the window, then her eyes widened.

A soft voice called Zuko to the window. "Zuko, look."  
Katara carefully had opened one of the shutters and gasped softly. When Zuko came to stand next to her, he softly whistled through his teeth. The window looked out over the garden below them. When they had been walking the path through the fire lilies they hadn't noticed, but now they looked down on a perfect lotus flower garden, the house placed exactly in the middle.

The lotus flower seemed to rest upon the small pond in front of the house, where the leaves of the water lily covered half of the water. Silently the travelers watched the fire lilies framing the pond, their hands nearly touching upon the windowsill.  
A gush of wind made the fire lilies wave like flames in the air, causing the water to ripple. A simultaneous sigh and two heads turning toward each other.  
"The White Lotus," Zuko then whispered. "Ta Min was a member of the White Lotus Society!"

***

Heavily impressed they walked down the stairs again, silently entering the kitchen. For a moment they stood still, looking around in what appeared to be a spotless kitchen. The hope slowly disappeared from their eyes.  
Then Katara's eyes came to rest upon the worktop. Widening her eyes, she rushed toward the kitchen sink.  
"There are breadcrumbs on the worktop and they are not too old," breathlessly she told Zuko.

"What?" With a few long strides Zuko stood next to her and bowed over the kitchen sink as well.  
"These crumbs are from a cheese and dates bread," Zuko surprised said, crumbling a small piece between his fingers. "It's a kind of flat bread, ideal for travelling. In the old days, firebending soldiers used to bake them upon their shields, when in the field."  
"So, she has actually been here," Katara said excitedly, but then doubt filled her gaze. "The question is: does she linger here or has she gone somewhere else? I tend to think it's the last one. There's no visible use of the house."  
Zuko nodded appreciatively. "Then we have returned to the question: where has she gone?" He sighed and Katara gazed back toward the living room, a thoughtful gaze in her eyes.  
"The cupboards," she said and determinedly walked out of the kitchen.

The next couple of minutes they walked through the living room, opening drawers in a search for any sign of Ursa's presence in Ta Min's house.  
Katara stepped back from the low cabinet she had been searching and for a moment rested her gaze on Zuko while she straightened her back. He was searching the buffet standing in a far corner of the room, his hands carefully rummaging through the drawers.

It suddenly struck her that they were actually in his great-grandmother's house, a great-grandmother of whose existence he only recently had come to know, going through her belongings. His belongings now. And suddenly she wondered how much he had known of the life of his great-grandparents, his mother's heritage which had always been subservient to his father's lineage, his royal lineage but ultimately had saved them all.

"Zuko, when did you hear about your family ties with Avatar Roku?"  
Zuko straightened up, a painful expression momentarily passing over his face. "When my uncle was in prison, he asked one of the guards he had befriended to get me this letter, leading me to the old archive where I read about my great-grandfather's testament. It only told me the story of Fire Lord Sozin, a story every child in the Fire Nation until two years ago had to learn, however this time I read it from his own perspective, without the propaganda. I went to confront my uncle and he told me it was time to learn about the history of my other great-grandfather, Avatar Roku. He gave me the royal hairpiece Avatar Roku had always worn since Prince Sozin had given it to him."

"Wait. You have that hairpiece?" Katara's eyes widened in surprise and Zuko nodded. "I even had it with me when I came to the Western Air Temple. I don't know, but somehow I think I wanted to tell you about this part of my history I only recently had come to know. I never got the chance though. I was too busy teaching the Avatar, helping Sokka with his plans and surviving you."  
Katara's grimace changed into a small smile before she thoughtfully tapped her chin. "But basically, that's all you know. You know you're a descendent of Avatar Roku because Iroh told you and you know of his passing away because you read about it in Fire Lord Sozin's memoires."

"That's right, but what about you? It seems to me you know more about Avatar Roku's personal life, without ever coming to know about his child and grandchild," Zuko pointed out.  
Katara sighed. "I know. That's what I don't get either. When Roku decided to take Aang on a journey through his life so he could come to understand the origins of the war he was supposed to end, he told him about his youth with Fire Lord Sozin, his later crush on Ta Min and his clumsiness whenever he was near her."

Zuko's ears suddenly turned red and he hastily averted his face, glad that Katara didn't seem to notice.  
"He told him about his marriage with Ta Min and about how they lived on his island, before it got destroyed by the eruption of the volcano. That's all," Katara concluded as Zuko absent-mindedly opened the drawer next to him, still trying to hide his unease. Then his eyes widened. The blush was forgotten. "Look."

Katara curiously approached him and watched as he picked a very old picture from the drawer, wiping some of the dust from the glass.  
It showed a young woman, dressed in wedding robes, with dark hair and gentle, large eyes set in a pale face. She was a Fire Nation copy of Katara.  
"Is this…" Katara stepped closer, her voice hoarse from shock, "Ta Min? She looks…"

"Exactly like you," Zuko softly finished her sentence, struck by the resemblance himself. "Did Aang never told you about her?"  
Katara shook her head. "No, Aang knew what she looked like… but, he always stayed vague about it."  
Next to her Zuko closed his eyes for a moment. "I see." He was beginning to suspect why and it angered him. "Here's another one."

He reached within the drawer and pulled out a family portrait of Avatar Roku, already aging and his wife Ta Min, looking at them with a serene look in her large, grey eye. A small girl was sitting between them. The girl had the fierce features of Avatar Roku, combined with Ta Min's gentle look in her eyes. Her long, black hair lay loosely around her shoulders, with only a few of the strands at the top of her head pulled back in a Fir Nation topknot.  
"Is she…?"

"That must be their daughter, my mother's mother," Zuko answered quietly as he stared down on the picture. "I've never known her. Though I never knew my other grandmother as well."  
He silently held the picture, trying to grasp the fact that he was looking at a picture of his grandmother when she was about five years old.

Katara suddenly felt grateful for having been able to know GranGran before her time had come. In the almost extinct situation the Southern Water Tribe for almost a hundred years had lived in, deceased persons lived on in the hearts and the stories of those who knew them.  
Katara lowered her eyes and something red in the drawer drew her attention. She reached out and took what appeared to be an old book in painted komodo-rhino leather from oblivion.  
Carefully she opened it.  
"Zuko, look!"

The young man next to her looked up and saw the first page falling open in the dusty half-light. Something was written on the old parchment in elegant characters.

The Diary of Ta Min

---

Carefully the Prime-Minister closed his dossiers and looked at the council of ministers surrounding him. "Well, gentlemen. I think we're through for today. I've only one announcement left, from General Iroh. His letter states that the Fire Lord will be returning to Sozin very soon now."  
A sigh of relief went through the group present and a few of the gazes glanced at the empty Dragon Throne, the flames dead with the Fire Lord gone.

It had only been a month and a half in which the Fire Lord had been gone and he had always left them a great deal of freedom in fulfilling their tasks but it was impossible to set a course for a longer term without the Fire Lord's permission and hardly two years after the ending of the war, there was still a large pile of problems that needed to be solved.  
And then there were the rumors about the rebelling nobles, who dared to let their war mongering hear more clearly with the Fire Lord's absence.

"Prime-Minister, is there more clarity already on what has happened in Senlin Harbor?" One of the younger ministers asked.  
The Prime-Minister for a moment stroked his long, thin beard before he answered. Everyone present in this room knew about what had happened and they had praised their Fire Lord for his courage and wit, but the possible role of the rebelling nobles in this gave them grave worries.

"Sadly no. Commander Jee has told us all he knew and also the Earth Kingdom governor has kindly provided us with as much information as he could obtain from the pirate leader. Which is not much. However, there is one thing I like to add, although I don't know what role the nobles or the pirate leader played in this, but intelligence from the Southern Fleet has told me a fleet from the Southern Water Tribe broke through its frozen harbor and is heading for the Fire Nation."  
The wrinkles in the Prime-Minister's old face seemed to deepen as the eyes of the assembled ministers widened in shock. Then they all started to talk through each other.

"The nerves of those people!" Someone called, while another grumbled: "After all that the Fire Lord has done for them."  
"Has the Southern Fleet not tried to stop them?" The young minister then directly asked the Prime-Minister who had sat still, letting the bitter words of the council wash over him. The council grew quiet and as one man looked at their leader.

"Intelligence doesn't tell if the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe means any harm. His daughter is travelling with our Fire Lord and one can only guess about the nature of his quest. All we know is that among the people present on his ship, are the Crown Prince, the Chief's mother-in-law and stepfather-in-law and that the fleet made a detour to pick up the Crown Prince's fiancée, the Kyoshi Warrior Suki."  
A few ministers opened their mouth to say something, but defense minister Jeong Jeong cut them off. "Look, we're keeping an eye on the Chief's movements. Normally you wouldn't take your old mother-in-law with you when you're planning on starting a war. We'll try to overtake the reason behind his sudden mission. In the mean time we wait for the Fire Lord's return."

With a long sigh the Prime-Minister closed the door to his office. He felt glad for the intimidating effect defense minister Jeong Jeong still had on the other ministers, otherwise he feared that some ministers would have suggested to prepare a fleet to meet the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe at open sea.  
Somehow, the Prime-Minister suspected the events of Senlin Harbor had something to do with the Chief's decision to head for the Fire Nation at once, especially during winter. That was what concerned the Prime-Minister the most. It was commonly known how much the Chief loved his only daughter, the princess which was now travelling in the company of their Fire Lord.

A soft knock on the door made the Prime-Minister start and he turned around, his hand already on the doorknob. Who could it be at this time?  
With a controlled movement he opened the door. A middle-aged man in long red robes with an intelligent look in his golden eyes stood before him. His clothes were completely black, symbol of the Fire Nation's secret intelligence service.

"Your Excellency, can I come in?" He spoke, his voice soft.  
The Prime-Minister stepped back and nodded. His unrest grew. What could it mean that the chief of the service himself would bring a message, instead of leaving that to lower ranked staff?  
"I will keep it short, Your Excellency. Last night we received message from Ember Island. Two young men have tried to break into the Fire Lord's beach house. They are believed to be from noble descent."

---

As the sun quickly started to approach the western horizon, Zuko and Katara had sat down on the embroidered cushions around the clean and empty fireplace, bodies bowed toward each other as they leaved through the pages, sometimes stopping to read.

The diary told about the young Ta Min, descendant of a very important noble family, raised to be wed with someone of the royal family, until one day the shy and clumsy friend of Crown Prince Sozin tripped into her life. She was immediately taken with him and accepted that she had to wait many years for him to come back to her to finally ask her hand in marriage, when his training was finally concluded.

During that time she had silently watched Sozin change from a charming boy into a fanatic with a mission. And when Roku finally had come back, she had known before him the changes his best friend had gone through. However, knowing the important place his childhood friend played in her husband's life, Ta Min didn't speak of her suspicions to Roku.  
It was the darkest day in Roku's life when it became clear to him his and Sozin's paths had forever been parted.

On the little island Roku had chosen for them to live on they had the most happy years of their lives, especially when after many years their child, a girl, was born. She would stay only child, but she was the light of her parents, a talented firebender as she soon appeared to be. Her father couldn't have been happier and it made her nonbending mother proud.

And while in the rest of the Fire Nation children grew up believing in the superior strength of the Fire Nation and mission to enlarge the empire at the loss of the other nations, at Roku's Island, the young daughter of the Avatar spent her first years surrounded by those who had a warm heart for the Avatar and the Order of the White Lotus, in the little village created around Avatar Roku's house.

From all over the world, people of all nations came to visit the Avatar's family and his little girl spent evening after evening sitting quietly by the fire, listening to their stories, their thoughts, their growing worries on the state of the world. A lot of those people were members of the White Lotus Society.  
Among the ones who returned were those who had taught the Avatar their element a long time ago. They spoke of harmony and balance and preferred the bright white of their Order to the burdened national colors.

Growing up it became clear that the Avatar's daughter not only was a prodigy firebender, but one with a very special talent. She could create a blinding white light which could wipe out all of her surroundings. Even her father was stunned.

"The light," Katara whispered and her eyes met with Zuko's knowing he was thinking the same thing. "The Spirit Princess..."  
Zuko for a moment didn't say anything, just staring at the page where in neat characters, Ta Min described the talents of her only daughter.  
"You know, that's one thing why I couldn't believe my mother was the Spirit Princess at first," he then said softly. "I had always thought of her as a nonbender and…"  
"You blamed her for not being such a talented firebender as Azula," Katara completed his sentence when it remained silent, knowing he couldn't say it.  
Zuko sighed and closed his eyes. "I guess I did. I sort of followed my father in this. He always complained about how his son and heir looked too much like his mother."

"She was only hiding her talent to him," Katara established and Zuko nodded dejectedly. "It seems so. It was a huge shock to me coming to know she was actually an Avatar's granddaughter. I wonder now if my father knew, or if Fire Lord Azulon knew about this, before granting his permission for them to marry. There are only two possibilities: either the Fire Lord didn't know about it and then I start to wonder if my mother kept her background a secret for a marriage out of love or because there were other powers outside my parents wanting them to get married."

"The White Lotus Society," Katara whispered and Zuko hummed in agreement. "Or," he continued sarcastically, "Fire Lord Azulon did know about my mother's background and he wanted to make sure no descendant of the Avatar could become a threat to the monarchy."  
"If that's the case," Katara said thoughtfully, "then he seriously has overplayed his hand. Avatar Roku's heritage was too strong to destroy."  
A watery smile broke through Zuko's darkened features. "I guess you're right. You don't know how much of him I actually recognize within my mother and… myself."  
With a shy look he averted his eyes to the book and turned the page.

But Katara suddenly found herself rooted to her spot, her eyes widening in shock as realization dawned to her.  
Ta Min hadn't been the most important person in Avatar Roku's life. And if she were honest with herself, Katara had known this all along. All of Avatar Roku's life had been circling around his ties to Fire Lord Sozin. That's why he hadn't showed Aang anything about his family life, revealing Zuko's lineage when he had the chance.

Her thoughts went back to the time Aang had gone into the Avatar State to meet with his precedent Avatar Roku. Went back to the moment he had told Team Avatar about the bonds of friendship between Roku and his childhood friend Sozin.  
She recalled Aang having told her about Ta Min, the beautiful noble girl Avatar Roku had a crush on for ages, the young woman who had looked so much like her. Just like Ummi, the Southern Water Tribe girl who, centuries ago, had been fiancée to Avatar Kuruk, never getting the chance to marry him.

Katara's eyes darkened and a weary expression passed over her face, as a raw feeling tightened her chest. It felt like the lineage of these girls had set her destiny in stone, reserving her for the Avatar, long before she had even been born.

All this time she had felt obligated toward Aang, guilty for allowing herself to enjoy Zuko's presence in a way she never had witnessed with Aang before. She had firmly believed in Aang's vision on them being destined to be together, knowing of her resemblance to Ta Min and Ummi. But with her accepting the inevitability, the despair grew with the time they spent together and she realized that the relationship they shared wasn't of the kind she had thought to meet. The great romance Aunt Wu had predicted her she was destined to. It had started to suffocate her.

Now, all of her certainty about her choice had been washed away by the realization that maybe… maybe Aang had been wrong for simply putting her in Ta Min's position. Maybe their bond was more complicated than that, resembling the bond between Roku and Sozin.  
Katara looked down on a pair of pale hands resting on the pages of the diary. Maybe… maybe she had been wrong. Maybe true love hadn't been inherited through the mind but through the blood…

"Shall we go on?" A husky voice softly pulled her from her thoughts and when she looked up her gaze for a moment crossed his worried expression. Hastily she put up a reassuring smile and nodded.

The diary continued to tell about Ta Min's life with Avatar Roku. The bitterness she noticed within him when he found that his former best friend increasingly became a threat to the balance in the world, the distraction he found in the love for his wife and the love for his daughter growing up to be a powerful firebender and a beautiful young lady.

From Ta Min she had inherited a patient and kind nature so when she started travelling around to help her father with his task, she was able to report to her father about the growing unrest among the other nations. Having her parents as an example, she married late, to a man from a respectable noble house with secret ties to the White Lotus Society, who had visited Roku's Island with his parents since his early childhood days.

Then the day of the volcano eruption arrived. It had clearly cost Ta Min a lot of courage to write about this event, judging from the shaking and many crossed out characters. That day she had lost the love of her life.  
Knowing Fire Lord Sozin's part in her husband's passing away, she knew she couldn't possibly return to Sozin to live with her family and decided to retreat on Ember Island, where she could still see the sea which had been surrounding her for more than forty-five years on Roku's Island.

With the help from the White Lotus Society she built herself a house at a small distance from the village, a house where she could spend the remainder of her life in relative peace with her husband's sudden death. Here she received many of the friends from all over the world which had been in her life ever since she married the Avatar, her house being the last peaceful place in the Fire Nation for those who cherished the white lotus.  
The last event mentioned in the diary was written in another handwriting than Ta Min's. It spoke of the birth of Avatar Roku's granddaughter, Ursa.

Underneath the characters a scenery of a large lake had been drawn, with a small fishing-village next to it.  
A pair of slanted golden eyes met with a pair of large blue ones.  
"I recognize this place," Katara whispered in shock as she pointed to the image. "This is the village of Jang Hui."  
Then understanding suddenly dawned to them and a smile appeared on both their faces. "The Painted Lady."

---

A soft orange glow in the clear blue sky heralded the falling of the evening and with regretful faces, Aang and Toph decided it time to go back to Iroh's place. The playground surrounding them had been changed into a strange, fairy-like scenery, where snowmen stood like tin soldiers in a rocky wasteland of boulders covered with an ultrathin layer of powdery snow.

Aang grabbed a hold on his glider and watched Toph approaching him, standing still in front of him and looking up at him with her sightless eyes. When she wrapped her strong arms around him, he felt a warm feeling spread through his body and he tenderly let his chin rest upon her gleaming, ebony hair before lifting off gently. And he felt he had never been happier when flying back with her clinging to his body, rosy from an afternoon of beating the one she loved at a game of airball of rocks.

The sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon, when Aang made a gentle turn to position himself in front of Iroh's study. Carefully stretching out her hands, Toph climbed onto the windowsill and then froze. With her knees still resting upon the windowsill she suddenly widened her eyes in shock and focused on something inside Aang couldn't see from his floating position.  
"I can see you," Toph then whispered. Aang sucked in his breath and soundlessly jumped onto the windowsill too.

There, upon Uncle Iroh's desk sat a bored looking monkey, his silver beard glowing in the half-light of the scarcely lit room.  
"Of course you can see me, silly girl. You're only not able to see things from your own world."  
The monkey sighed.  
"Can't believe they made me pick up this ignorant human," he then muttered. "Well, took you long enough, didn't it? Because you decided to go out and play," his eyes got a reproachful edge to them, "we're in a hurry now."

He lightly jumped from the desk, revealing the grinning statue behind him, the rubies now lighting up in a dark glow. The monkey for a moment leaned on his stick and before Aang could understand what happened a gush of wind, stronger than any wind on earth but without the devastating effect, sucked Toph from the windowsill. Aang didn't notice.

In a reflex he grabbed the window frame, his nails digging painfully into the wood, as he closed his eyes, trying to remain upright, contemplating whether to go into the Avatar State or not, while his clothing was almost being ripped off his lean body by the wind.  
Then, as suddenly as the wind started raging around him, it grew silent too. Carefully Aang opened one eye, then the other one and discovered that Toph was gone.

He jumped into the room, frantically looking around for a trail of the girl which had been sitting next to him only a moment ago. "Toph? Toph, say something! Where are you?"  
"She's not in this world anymore, you dumbhead. Do you call yourself the Avatar?" An echoing voice softly spoke through the room, followed by a disdainful chuckle. Aang spun around to see the statue of the grinning monkey still standing on Iroh's desk, the grin seeming to be widened into a more triumphant one than before.  
Aang did a step forward. "Toph! Where have you taken her?"  
The statue made a discontented sound. "Oh, for the love of… Just go into the Avatar State, will you and you will meet your precious girl again."  
Aang's face darkened.

---

Uncle Iroh carefully took the kettle from the stove and poured the boiling water onto the black tealeaves in the delicate, porcelain teacup, a thoughtful expression on his face.  
He had just finished reading the letter which had arrived this morning. A letter from the Fortuneteller of Makapu Village.

Iroh hadn't missed Aang's sharp look, suspicious at everything the Grandmaster of the White Lotus Society did or didn't do in order to save his Order. The young Avatar had recognized the seal of the White Lotus on the scroll. As Uncle Iroh put back the kettle on the stove he vaguely wondered how Aang would react if he had been able to read the letter; probably obstinately. However, Iroh this time couldn't blame him.

If there was one message clear in this letter, then it was how much still needed to be done, how many hurdles still had to be taken before the White Lotus Society could be declared safe.  
The letter again had been an insight into the future, like the one Aunt Wu had informed him of before, a description which however could only become true if two players in the field would allow themselves to choose and become one with the ones they were destined to be with. A single number…

A rumbling sound from his study made Iroh look up warily. He had left Toph and Aang behind with the monkey statue, hoping they would find a way of getting its spirit as far he would come for Toph. Now, he picked up his tea and with slightly hastened step walked up the stairs, approaching his study with a sudden heavy feeling in his stomach, almost frightened of what he would come to see in there.

Uncle Iroh for a moment halted before the door, then with a determined movement opened it and stepped inside.  
A blue light shone into his eyes and as he blinked he saw the figure of a young man sitting next to the still glowing statue of the monkey king, the arrows on his arms, legs and forehead glowing. Then the Avatar opened his glowing eyes.

---

"Aang? Aang, where are you?"  
"I'm here Toph. I'm here."  
"Oh, finally, I was starting to think you couldn't find the way anymore."  
"Then you know where we are?"  
"Of course I do, Twinkle Toes. We're in the Spirit World."

---

Night had fallen over Ember Island when soft footsteps upon the path of seashells approached the Fire Lord's beach house, a dark silhouette standing out against the moonlit sky.  
Two figures rounded a corner and appeared from behind the elegant palm trees framing the path, the gentle wind playing with her red silk summer dress and her long, loose hair.  
Katara breathed in the lukewarm air, heavy with the scent of flowers, silently enjoying their night time walk. With a half smile she noticed Zuko subconsciously ran his hand through his hair more often, trying to keep it out of his eyes.

"Tomorrow by dawn we leave for Jang Hui," Zuko said. Somehow he felt so much lighter now that they had a new direction. And one drawn by his mother himself. He had recognized her beautiful drawing style.  
"Appa will be pleased." Katara shot him an equally relieved smile and their hands for a moment touched each other in an understanding gesture.

Silently they opened the front door and stepped inside, suddenly being surrounded by the darkness of the great hall.  
Zuko took Katara's hand to lead her toward the staircase, when he suddenly froze. The solemnly silence was being disturbed by a shuffling sound and two voices arguing with each other on hushed tones.  
"Are you sure it's safe to come back?"  
"Don't be such a baby. That old hag isn't going to come back for another week. The rebels expect some result."  
Zuko's eyes widened in utter disbelief. He had recognized the voices.  
Ruon-Jian and Chan.

---

**A/N:** _Another update of the story. Later than I would have wanted to, but my new job suddenly got very hectic and after that I had week off. It gave me the chance to relax a bit and continue with the story. So, I'm very sorry, but I hope you like this chapter. Either way, it has become very long._

_I want to thank all of you who have reviewed previous chapter. I'm very happy with them. To SnowCharms I would like to say: that is indeed a way of looking at the keystone, but the keystone first and foremost stands for the four nations, so that would be Aang (wood), Toph (rock), Katara (silver) and Zuko (gold). However, I am glad that you mentioned the four boys in her life, because they are essence of this story. To Shrilaraune I would like to say: the song doesn't really connect to Ta Min's house, but it does with the purpose of this story... To Isa B: thank you for the pun. It was really funny :-). And I would like to thank all of you for your lovely words on the story and my writing._

_A lot of you have siad they liked the idea of the dancing dragons. Thank you very much! It's possible for them to shape their element in all kinds of figures so Katara could easily shape her bending water into a dragon. The reason she shaped it into a dragon obviously is because Zuko is very much on her mind right now. _

_Then I would like to say to BellsOfPeace: thank you very much for all of the reviews on the chapters. It was heartwarming to see your enthusiasm grow with your progression in reading the story._

_Concerning this week's chapter:_

_As I've come to expect with Zutara Eternity, the prompts are really crazy and not very befitting, but they are a challenge nonetheless and here's how I solved it:_

_Sudoku means single number and is short for Suuji (or suji) wa dokushin ni kagiru which means "the digits must be single" or "the digits are limited to one occurrence." For this I mentioned that if the true romance has been found, two become one. A singel number._

_The prompt Pizza is incorporated with a reference to soldiers of the Persian King, Darius the Great (521-486 B.C.) who baked a kind of flat bread upon their shields and then covered it with cheese and dates._

_In this chapter I wanted to explore the life of Ta Min some more, especially in relation to Katara. It rises a few questions with Katara about her destiny with Aang._

_And Aang and Toph have finally arrived in the Spirit World._

_This week's music again has been taken from Prince Caspian. Not much to say about that, except that it's one of the best tracks of the soundtrack._

_Thank you all for reading and I hope to post next chapter within this week._


	39. Noise Virus

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 38: Noise/Virus**

Music: Nightwish, Ghost Love Score

Zuko grabbed Katara by the hand and swiftly pulled her underneath the grand staircase. He crouched down and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, as he focused on where the noise came from, a grim expression on his face.

Not for the last time he sarcastically wondered how fate could mess with things, when two years ago he had trashed a beach house belonging to the young men who now sneaked into his own summer home, on a mission for the nobles who sought the ruin of his reign.

"Do you know these burglars?"

Zuko looked up and saw Katara had seen the recognition in his eyes. A wry smile formed on his lips. "Us bad guys, we all know each other," he retorted, recalling the old housekeeper's words but Katara wasn't in the mood for cynicism. She narrowed her eyes disapprovingly and Zuko added on a hushed, peacemaking tone: "Alright. I met with them during that holiday on Ember Island with Azula. I… we kind of trashed one of those guy's house."

"What?!"

A pale hand clapped before Katara's mouth to soften her hiss and Zuko's eyes bore into hers, his warning gaze begging her to be silent.

"Please Katara. I'll explain it to you later, I promise," he whispered intensely, "there really is no excuse for what we did. All I can say that it was pubescent frustration from Azula and me."

"What can possibly justify the trashing of a house?" Katara mumbled indistinctly behind his hand.

Zuko sighed and removed his hand from her lips, bowing his head in shame. "They thought we weren't cool enough for them," he whispered lamely.

For a moment, Katara's gaze was one of utter bewilderment but then a small tremble made the corner of her mouth curl up. "I'm sure that must have hurt deeply," she said, clearly amused and Zuko grimaced back.

"Either way, you have made yourself some enemies that day," she added but Zuko shook his head. "No, they didn't know who we were. Azula wanted it that way," he explained on Katara's surprised gaze. Then his expression turned grim again. "But I think it's time for a confrontation at last."

---

There was no sound reaching Toph's ears as they started their journey across the swampy world where the spirits dwelled. Only the noise of their own feet sucking their way through the muddy underground broke the silence.

Aang had given her a hand to stabilize her, while Toph stared at where she suspected his face, very disappointed she still couldn't see it.

"That's because I'm not from this world, but from our world," Aang explained understandingly, seeing the look on her face and Toph turned away from him, a displeased frown between her eyebrows.

"So, any ideas on what to do now?" She asked, taking in the surroundings like she had never been able to before.

Aang didn't answer immediately, looking around with a thoughtful expression on his face. Somehow, he had expected Roku to show up and lead the way. An irritated sigh made him turn around and he looked into the face of a bored looking monkey, leaning on his stick.

"Have you come to the only possible conclusion Avatar? Because, despite the fact that in the Spirit World night will never come, we don't have all day, you see."

With a taken aback expression on his face, Aang watched as the monkey lightly jumped away behind a puny weeping-willow. It seemed like someone had made the lazy monkey, who didn't want to lift a finger to help him on his last visit to the Spirit World, go on a journey again to guide the Avatar. A slight smile formed on his lips and for a moment his grey eyes sparkled. Then he shook his head.

"We follow the monkey," he said dryly.

---

"You really should quiet down," a voice hissed as footsteps approached the great hall.

"I really don't see why, Chan. I mean, the Fire Lord…"

"Just returned to check up on his summer home," a husky voice suddenly cut in softly.

The men entering the room paled and flinched as a tall figure suddenly emerged from underneath the staircase. He leaned against the dark wood, arms crossed before his chest as half of his face remained hidden behind the shadows of the staircase and his messy hair. Only a dangerous gaze from a pair of golden eyes could be seen.

"And he's very much wondering what you two are doing here…" the figure added, his voice low as the men swallowed visibly and backed away. The moonlight coming from the windows illuminated the beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. This was not what they had expected.

"The… Fire Lord?" One of them succeeded in uttering with difficulty.

"In person," Zuko said calmly.

The young men squinted their eyes, trying to distinguish him in the shadows of the stairs, as they wondered why his voice sounded so familiar. But Zuko didn't move, looking at them from the darkness.

They hadn't changed very much over the years. Zuko still recognized the conceited self-confidence, underneath their frightened expression. He remembered Chan's slanted, golden eyes a perfect contradiction to his own disheveled appearance, which once had angered him, the strands of hair falling over his forehead a bit too playfully, and Ruon-Jian's bored expression behind the curtain of frivolous hair.

Their eyes shot from one corner of the stairs to the other, nervously trying to see the person speaking to them.

A small smile of satisfaction formed on Zuko's lips. He started to enjoy himself.

"So maybe you would want to answer my question on why you are here. I don't remember inviting you over," he added cryptically and Chan looked up, his gaze wary.

"Wha…"

But the young man who had remained in the shadows until then, then stepped into the beam of moonlight streaming into the hall through the grand windows. The eyes of Ruon-Jian and Chan widened.

The man was tall and impressive, with piercing golden eyes, dressed in rumpled but expensive silk beach clothing, his black hair messy, falling back when he looked up, revealing the outlines of a fiery red scar.

Their eyes widened even more when they started to realize that he looked just like…

Chan's mouth fell open. "You! You're the one who trashed my house…"

Ruon-Jian suddenly turned ashen, as he remembered falling into an expensive vase. "Loser boy," he involuntary whispered, then sucked in his breath when he realized what he had just said.

A splash of water suddenly hit both young men in the back, making them stumble over and fall on the ground, spluttering. Surprised Zuko slightly turned around.

"I thought a kowtow was in order," the voice of a young woman calmly sounded from behind him, looking down on the trespassers. "Since you two remained standing in front of your Fire Lord."

Ruon-Jian and Chan groaned softly and Zuko mirrored Katara's smirk. She had seen what kind of person they were and had drawn her conclusions. Again she understood him better than he thought. He looked down on the puddle of water at his feet.

"So, Chan isn't it?" He said quietly as he squatted on his haunches, putting his hand on the floor. Chan squinted at the moonlight suddenly twinkling in the Fire Lord's golden signet ring before his nose. His breath caught.

"You told me your father is one of my admirals…" Zuko continued, subtly reminding him and Chan squeezed shut his eyes in horror. He remembered.

"Then I'm very interested what assignment from him and his fellow rebel nobles has brought you here."

---

"It's getting warmer," Suki softly said as she looked at the darkening sky, her betrothal necklace reflecting the sparkling water. Her slender fingers took a hold on the cloak hanging from her shoulders.

Sokka put his elbows onto the railing of the wooden ship and focused his gaze onto the wolf's head decorating the bow of his father's flagship. "Yeah, we must be near Omashu by now."

"What do you think we find in the Fire Nation?"

Sokka shook his head. "I don't know, but I feel that it's not pretty," he said with disgust and out of habit averted his eyes to the moon rising.

"She said…" he then whispered barely noticeable, then said louder, "Katara said that she approved." He looked to the side. "Of us I mean."

Suki averted her gaze to the moon, the pale light giving her skin a pearly glow. The expression in her blue eyes thoughtful, she remained silent and the evening breeze softly played with her hair as Sokka watched the Kyoshi Warrior standing straight, her strong but slender fingers resting on the hilt of her katana, kissed by the light of the one he had once loved. Truly magnificent.

"Come, we have to go inside. I think dinner should be served now." Sokka wrapped his arm around her and lightly kissed her on the forehead.

Together they stepped back from the railing and with quiet steps started to walk back to the captain's cabin. Silent crew members came on deck to light the beacons and the silvery moonlight gently mixed with the golden light of the oil lamps. The light blue seal softly billowed in the evening breeze.

The moment Suki was about to follow Sokka inside, she turned around and heaved her face toward the moon again, as she pulled her cloak around her more tightly.

"Thank you," she then whispered and disappeared inside as well.

The moonlight sparkled in the endless ocean.

---

"I kissed your sister…" Chan whispered in shock. "I kissed the Fire Princess."

Zuko smiled slightly, mock hardening his grim expression. "It certainly required some nerve to do that."

Next to Chan, Ruon-Jian still lay on the ground, watching Zuko as the Fire Lord straightened himself, taking very close position to that strange, breathtaking girl he couldn't quite place. Dressed as a Fire Nation noble, she had been the one who had directed the water at him and Chan and she had the bluest eyes he had ever seen in his life. A waterbender. She wasn't the pale, knife throwing girl, the scarred royal had been with two years ago, for certain. And as they were standing there, she looked in complete synergy with him. His eyes widened in realization.

For a moment Zuko looked down on Chan and Ruon-Jian lying on the ground, feeling disgusted with them. The young Fire Lord was shocked deeply by what the airheaded beach boys had told him about what the rebel nobles had been doing in his absence, but his face remained unreadable and his eyes narrowed. "Breaking into this house also required some nerve and both didn't play out well for you." Chan flinched slightly.

Zuko started to pace before Chan, whose eyes followed him nervously. "Since I caught you in this house and having heard the plans you revealed to me, according to the law I could have you executed right here and right now, for high treason and betrayal of the Dragon Throne."

The boys both sucked in their breaths and started to mumble incoherent words. Nothing was left from their previous bravura. Now, they were only two spoiled young men, suddenly realizing what danger they had gotten themselves into, as they looked at the Fire Lord, so young, yet so frightening as he looked down on them with a hard gaze in his piercing, golden eyes.

"But I decided you can come in handy. I hereby order you to return to Sozin and do what I'll tell you to do."

Zuko curtly explained his plans to them and they bowed their heads meekly and nodded.

"If you won't do so…" Zuko stopped pacing before Chan and looked at them. "I will find you. Know that the bond of rebels isn't the only well-organized group out there. The times for playing rebel are over. This is the Fire Nation and I am its Lord. I will not tolerate any breaking of the peace and freedom I've established. Remember that before you try something stupid."

---

"You think it wise to let them go?" Katara asked as she steered Appa to the north. The gigantic animal groaned softly, glad to be finally released from his tiny cell. Underneath them the beach house quickly became smaller, as they flew higher and higher.

"I believe it is. I could have handed them over to the local authorities, but now I have a better use for them. Now I have a way to for once and for all end the group of war mongering nobles festering in my nation." He held his gaze fixed on the horizon, his features hard. "Of course there's always the chance of failure, but I count on their fears and laziness. Despite Chan being the son of a famous admiral, he's weak; spoiled by the easy and luxurious life on Ember Island, as is his friend Ruon-Jian. They don't want to be a rebel; it's too demanding for them."

Katara nodded understandingly and pulled the light woolen cloak in deep dark red more tightly around her, breathing in the fresh morning air appreciatively. She was glad they had a heading, but at the same time felt a little sorry for having to leave Ember Island behind. Turning around slightly, she saw a last glimpse of the beach where she and Zuko had shared their passionate kiss under the moonlight, before clouds closed off all view on the Fire Nation holiday island.

Katara turned back and slightly shook her head, trying to get rid of the image.

"That Ruon-Jian guy actually dared to call you loser boy," she pondered out loud and Zuko laughed curtly. "That's because he recognized me. He called me that before, when I got myself into a fight with him, because he flirted with my girlfriend. Mai was not amused."

Katara's heart made a strange leap and she looked down on her hands holding the reins, fumbling with them. She forced a small smile on her face.

"I can understand that, no girl likes it when her boyfriend embarrasses her in public."

"Ah well, I doubt I would react the same way again," he responded darkly.

Carefully Katara looked to the side and saw the closed off expression reappear on his face, like the time she asked about his marriage plans, as if he didn't like to be remembered of Mai. She bowed her head, understanding his feelings as the image of a bold young monk flashed through her mind.

"I always thought that even the Fire Nation's shape looked like a flame," Zuko then drew her attention back to him. "But I find it a reassuring thought it's surrounded by this much water." His lips curled up in a small smile as Katara followed his gaze to the glistening water surrounding them as the sun started to rise before them. In the distance the outlines of a small island, one of the last on the Fire Nation archipelago, appeared on the horizon. She smiled too.

---

"My dad is gonna kill me! So much time we've spend on Ember Island and still we haven't got what he wanted. Instead we let ourselves get caught by the Fire Lord himself. If had known who he was back then..." Chan shook his head and Ruon-Jian knew he would have been dying to become friends with the Fire Prince. He narrowed his eyes.

"You idiot. Your father isn't going to kill us nor is my father or General Bujing. The information we return with is much more valuable than what we came here for."

Ruon-Jian smiled a triumphant smile as his gaze for the last time wandered across the Ember Island coast line, out of habit establishing that the waves were good for surfing today.

With a confused expression on his face Chan looked up, not understanding what his friend was getting at. "It is?"

Ruon-Jian turned around and walked away with determined steps, his cloak billowing behind him. Chan had to hasten to understand his lazy words. "It is, or what do you call the news that the Fire Lord has returned… and has fallen in love with the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe."

---

Appa described a large turn and gently drifted towards the low mountains of the outer island. The hillsides were overgrown with deciduous trees, which now had lost their leaves. He landed in a small valley.

A few moments later, Katara and Zuko stood on the cliff, looking down on the sparkling lake beneath them. In the middle of the lake a village lay peacefully in the morning sun, fishing boats floating around the plain, wooden houses on poles. Katara smiled.

"You're right. The river still looks very clean. I'm glad that factory isn't poisoning this river anymore." She sounded proud. Her effort had not been for nothing.

"You're still a hero to these people. It was all they kept talking about on my last visit to this place…" Zuko looked up, his gaze appreciative, "the waterbender. I'm sure they would very much want to see you again."

Katara's cheeks colored a little and she averted her eyes. "Then it's good we try to find the Painted Lady a bit upstream. We don't have the time for reunions anymore."

She preferred not to mention that the strange vision of the future in which she seemed to have a public function in the Fire Nation, had also contained the image of her stepping out of a carriage, on a visit to Jang Hui. The golden flame in her hair had gleamed in the sunlight.

Because Katara had told Zuko she had seen The Painted Lady at night, they spent the day waiting for the sun to make place for the moon again. After they had eaten some of the bread and pine-apple they had bought on Ember Island, Zuko spread out their cloaks on the ground and they sat down, leaning against Appa who grumbled cozy, while they looked out over the lake before them.

Katara watched Zuko as he closed his eyes, heaving his head toward the sun. All weariness seemed to fall from him as he enjoyed the rays of sunlight on his skin. Autumn and winter were always tiring seasons for a firebender.

Katara sighed and looked past him. She wished she could relax like him too, but there were too many thoughts running through her head right now, all demanding her attention and all circling around one main subject: him.

Quietly, careful not to disturb Zuko, she pulled the disheveled paper Iroh had given her all those weeks ago out of her dress, looking for a distraction. Her gaze for the umpteenth time went over the lines she now could read easily, knowing she knew them by heart anyway.

Winter, spring, summer and fall,

Winter, spring, summer and fall,

Four seasons, four loves,

Four seasons, for love.

'Try to understand its meaning before the end of the season,' Uncle Iroh's message said cryptically in his assignment to her. But all she could think about was that it was just a small, melancholic song about the maker's love for the seasons because there was something to love in all of them. She sighed.

'Don't fall in love with the travelling girl, she'll leave you broke and brokenhearted', now that was an easy song to explain, Katara thought with a hint of bitter self-mock. Aang should have listened to that one more closely. Because wasn't that what she in the end had done, by leaving him in Omashu while running away with Zuko when she had the chance? And how about Zuko himself...?

As her hands restlessly travelled over the paper, the memory of that one disturbing dream floated to the surface. The one in which the spirit they were now looking for on this small island, played a mysterious role.

The boys in that dream… Katara closed her eyes. They had appeared in a certain order. Not the order in which they had met, she reasoned, for she had met with Zuko long before Haru even crossed her path. The order seemed to have something to do with what the young men had begun the mean to her…

An involuntary shiver run through her spine and Katara slightly turned her head, her gaze resting upon the young man next to her. He had been the last…

Her thoughts went back to the moment the white lotus had showed her a fragment of her future in which she was surrounded by reds and golds and a little boy by a turtle duck pond. A fragment of a life she hadn't considered ever to live, but seemed to be the happiest choice she had ever made. She wondered…

"Zuko?"

For a moment he didn't react and Katara started to think he had actually fallen to sleep, but then he made a soft sound, indicating he had heard her after all.

Katara took in a slow breath and hesitated. "What is it like? Living in Sozin, living… your life?"

Surprised Zuko for a moment opened his eyes and looked to the side. She smiled at him, but he noticed a certain eagerness to know, he couldn't quite explain behind her genuine expression.

"I don't know… no one has asked me this before."

He furrowed his eyebrow in thought. "The days are often the same, but never boring. Most of the time they are packed with meetings and dossiers to read. I always love the moments in which I can leave the palace and go to visit some place, like Jang Hui last year." The words came out more easily while he was speaking and Zuko remembered more things to tell her.

Katara sat motionless, drinking in his words as if she needed them for something. "During lunch breaks I often go to sit by my mother's pond, when I don't have a lunch appointment with someone. Sometimes, when I have a particularly long meeting my Lord Chamberlain comes in and announces that it's time to end the meeting. He knows I won't do it myself. I think he received secret orders from my uncle." Zuko smiled quietly and Katara's gaze softened. "Well, you've seen him. I think he looks a bit like my uncle, though a bit more reserved." He averted his gaze to the brilliant blue sky, a few clouds peacefully drifting by. "He's the only one inside the palace I can talk to."

Katara's heart suddenly wrenched when she saw a lonely expression momentarily passing over his face. "He's a nice, old man," she gently said and Zuko's small smile returned to his features.

"He worries about me. Thinks I need someone with me. But it feels like he never approved of Mai."

Katara's mouth fell close when he added the last sentence. The tone of his voice betrayed that he seemed to understand his Lord Chamberlain's doubts about the somber nobleman's daughter. Did he agree?

"I think he's right, though. The palace is empty with only me in it and the Fire Nation needs a Lady," Zuko told the clouds, who didn't answer. From the side, Katara looked at his profile, the good side of his face turned toward her. "What does it require to become the Lady?" She asked, her gaze not averting as she ignored her heart starting to pound in her chest.

Zuko let out a curt laugh. "Well, naturally she needs to be of good family, preferably a very influential one and she needs to be knowledgeable of court life." He sighed as he sarcastically summed up the standard requirements. Then his expression turned serious. "She needs to feel and accept the responsibility she'll have toward the people of the Fire Nation, being able to lead them, be strong for them, be loved by them."

A gentle breeze played with Zuko's hair and he automatically tucked his bangs behind his good ear. Katara lowered her own hand.

"In a way, she'll need to be the mother of the nation, as she'll become the mother of my heir." He turned his head and suddenly Katara was held prison by an intense golden gaze, set in a beautiful, disheveled face. "I need to love her."

Katara's breath caught and she noticed her hands had balled to fists while he had been talking. She subconsciously had checked the requirements and she found that they may very well apply to the Princess of the powerful Southern Water Tribe, whose motherly nature had held together Team Avatar on crucial moments, who had once managed to encourage a whole prison of disillusioned earthbenders to break free and who was adored by her people. But…

She turned away her face, trying to overcome the raw feeling of sadness as realization hit her. Swallowing thickly, Katara glanced at the tree before her and she said tonelessly: "You forget one thing. She needs to be Fire Nation."

Then she abruptly straightened up and put her cloak around her shoulders, the silver lotus clasp gleaming in the last rays of the sunlight. "It's time," she said curtly and walked away, leaving Zuko in bewilderment.

***

Zuko felt the shingle move underneath his supple, leather boots as he glided down the steep path down the cliff. When he had reached the gravel beach, he halted seeing Katara kneeling at the waterfront, her hood up, a lonely figure almost disappearing in the mist coming from the river. In the darkened sky the small lights of the village behind Katara flickered softly on the depthless waters.

Zuko drew in a deep breath. Katara sat motionless, appearing to be waiting for the spirit, but somehow it looked like she had been crying.

If so, he could understand how she felt. He didn't want to admit it, but her words had knocked the breath out of him, cutting his heart like a knife. He hadn't had the opportunity to think over the despair in her tone, overwhelmed as he was by his own emotions. She was right. Of course Katara was right. How could he have been so naïve, so stupid?

He had squeezed his eyes shut as he pushed his fist against his forehead. When had been the last time a Fire Nation royal had married someone from outside his nation? Never, he knew. And Katara not only was Water Tribe, she was a waterbender too. A bender of an opposite discipline. Impossible to match. The nobles would be against it for sure.

He stood up and pounded his fist against the nearby tree. Why, oh why was it always when he had found his happiness, it was denied to him?

Then he froze, trembling slightly as he tried to control his fury, breathing heavily.

Appa groaned softly and Zuko turned around, not understanding where the sound came from, until the silhouette of the enormous bison appeared before him.

"I'm sorry, Appa. I'm just… it's just that…" He fell silent, not knowing what to tell Aang's bison. That he couldn't have his master's girlfriend?

Appa again made a soft rumble, but it didn't sound reproachful. Zuko stretched out his hand and stroked the bison's soft fur, looking up to see Appa's loyal gaze in his small eyes. He slowly blinked.

And groaned again.

Zuko felt himself calm down and petted the bison, as his thoughts cleared. And as he calmed down, he felt the rebellious feelings coming up as well. Because, since when did he need the approval of the nobles for a woman's hand in marriage. And not just a woman, Katara was one of the Young War Heroes, a princess even.

Then he remembered the moment he and Katara had been initiated by the white lotus herself and the visions he had seen at that time. His eyes widened.

As he walked off with determined steps, Appa closed his eyes in approval.

"Katara?"

He didn't really expect an answer, so he moved forward anyway and went to stand next to her, looking out over the dark river, his vision clouded by the steam surrounding them. A full moon shone down on them.

"He would be a firebender," Zuko said without introduction, his tone of voice flat.

Katara at first didn't move, but then tilted up her head as the meaning of his words slowly sunk in. Her hood slowly glided from her head as her gaze met with Zuko's who looked down, countless emotions storming behind his topaz eyes. "I've seen it," he added and Katara's eyes widened in shock as she realized what he meant.

"Then you've seen it right," a melodic voice suddenly sounded from behind him and they both spun around, facing the waterfront.

There, between the thick curtains of mist, floated the silhouette of The Painted Lady.

"So, you've finally come to see me," the spirit smiled as the veal of her head softly billowed in an invisible breeze. She slightly turned her head toward Zuko. "Your mother has drawn a very beautiful picture of my river, I must say."

Zuko bowed his head in acknowledgement. "She only translated the beauty of this place to paper, Painted Lady."

The Painted Lady smiled and turned to Katara, who had risen from her seated position, staring at the spirit with large, blue eyes. "And you must be happy to see the river still clean from poison."

It wasn't a question.

"Well now," the spirit floated somewhat closer, her grey eyes moving from one traveler to another. "Since you started your journey almost six weeks ago, I've guided you on crucial moments of your quest. So much you've discovered and accomplished during that time. The White Lotus Society has revealed her secrets to you and you've become members of the Order, initiated by the revered white lotus herself. You found out that the one you're looking for, traveled through the Earth Kingdom where she became known as the Spirit Princess. Her trail has brought you here." The spirit smiled again. "You also discovered a lot about yourself and the other, I see."

The silvery mist made for a welcome coolness on their sudden heated cheeks. A tingling laugh filled the small space between the spirit and her protégés.

"Now you've come to the last part of your journey, the quest where you hope to save the Order of the White Lotus from her ruin… the part where you hope to find your mother." She turned to Zuko whose heart made a hopeful jolt.

The Painted Lady smiled. "Do you have any idea on where she is?"

Zuko opened his mouth, looked at Katara and closed his mouth again. They still hadn't the faintest idea. So excited they were on having found Ta Min's diary, they hadn't given a second thought on where Princess Ursa would be. The Painted Lady had been their last clue.

"I thought so," the spirit whispered amused. "Then, here comes the part in which I tell you to follow your heart."

Her smile met with a pair of bewildered gazes.

"It's true. You already know where to find her. Just…" The Painted Lady suddenly started to withdraw and slowly the surroundings came into view again.

"… ask yourselves where Princess Ursa would go if she was to return to the Fire Nation…"

Zuko blinked and the next moment the Painted Lady was gone and it was only him and Katara who stood motionless at the lakeside, their eyes widened in shock.

"What were we talking about again?" Katara's voice sounded hoarse, but there was a hint of amusement in her confused tone.

"We now decide upon a place to go find my mother and if we're right, the Order will be saved. If we're wrong…" Zuko simply answered, as he slowly turned around to look at the waterbender next to him.

Katara saw the slight despair in his eyes. "Don't you have any idea on where she might be?"

Zuko's face darkened and he started to pace around, a frown hardening his face.

"I have a few ideas. That's the problem. We don't have the time anymore to check them all. I mean, it's almost winter."

Katara looked out over the quiet river. "I know," she said softly and suddenly remembered the times, long ago, when she would be at the South Pole, celebrating with the village the ending of the short days and welcoming the returning sun with music, dancing, stories, large bonfires and lots and lots of kumquats. It looked like she would miss this year's festivities again.

"I think we can safely rule out Ember Island," Zuko's voice pulled her back to reality and her eyes followed his movements, as he thought out loud. "We've been in the only two places where she would possibly go to and we've established she isn't there anymore. Then there is of course Roku's Island…"

"But that got completely destroyed," Katara objected and Zuko pursed his lips. "Or even the city of the Sun Warriors," he added, then shook his head vigorously."I don't know. Like I said, there are many places where she could go to. For all I know, she could be in hiding with Master Piandao."

Katara lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "She would?"

The young Fire Lord turned purple. "Arggh, I don't know," he grumbled and sat down on the ground, his head in his hands.

Slowly, Katara went to sit next to him, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Maybe," she said carefully, "we must think of this another way. I mean, the Painted Lady said we already knew where Princess Ursa was."

"How?" The sound of a muffled, husky voice came from where Zuko's knees were.

"Well, before she went away, The Painted Lady said we had to ask ourselves the question where Princess Ursa would want to go to, if she was to return to the Fire Nation."

Zuko for a moment stayed still, then slowly heaved up his head, staring at the water before him. He didn't respond.

Katara followed his gaze. "I know where my mother would go to, if she was to return to the South Pole," she said softly, a hint of pain passing over her face.

"To see you," Zuko whispered understandingly and a small, pained smile appeared on Katara's face. "And my dad and Sokka," she added and Zuko's eyes widened when realization finally hit him. He shot up straight, his eyes glistening in the light of the full moon.

"She has gone to Sozin!"

Then a soft sound coming from the water startled the travelers.

"What do my eyes see, Dock? It's His Majesty and the waterbender! Praise The Painted Lady! She has brought them back to us!"

---

**A/N:** _Thank you for your lovely reviews! I'm glad you liked last chapter and here I am to answer a few questions ;-). Kaydreams asked me how it can be that history is saying that Katara should be together with Aang, while everything is indicating that she belongs with Zuko. You're absolutely right. That's exactly the frustrating thing that occured in the series. Everything points at Zutara, but Bryke decided to try and convince Zutarians to switch toward Kataang by hinting at loves of previous Avatars who miraculously all looked like Katara. Thankfully there is still the fact that Zuko is a descendent from Avatar Roku hence the proposition that it would be Zuko who would inherit Roku's preferences, rather than Aang who basically only inherited a state of mind, an experience, while Zuko has a direct bloodline with Roku._

_Niori thought I introduced a new plotline with Ruon-Jian and Chan. Basically, it's not another plotline but simple progression of a plotline I introduced before. I'm refering to the plotline of Senlin Harbor in which pirate leader Weiting is trying to cooperate with the rebelling nobles in capturing Zuko. Weiting maybe imprisoned now, the nobles are not going to sit back and wait; they still want to get rid of Zuko._

_Then... I've decided to go along with 's lay-out to make the story easier to read and I would very much like to know if you like it._

_About this week's chapter: another set of prompts. I think that from now on I will update every two weeks, somehow I can't make it in one week anymore. I think the second prompt Virus needs a bit an explanation. Virus is the latin word for poison and as you've read in this chapter I mention the polluted/poisoned river of Jang Hui, where Zuko and Katara were going to._

_Things are going fast now, Zuko and Katara have to go back to Sozin! Is Zuko right and will Ursa be there? The story is reaching its conclusion..._

_The music is an older song from Nightwish. I like it because of the choir in the background._


	40. Mask

**A/N:**_ This is a very, very important chapter in this story. The moment we all have been looking forward to. But is it also the end of the story? Enjoy this new chapter!_

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 40: Mask**

Music: John Williams, A Window to the Past (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

_He's__ coming closer. I can tell from the unrest that grows within my heart. He has found out about my whereabouts. As I watch the birds fly through the air and my eyes follow their movements, I hope… and wonder. How will he react? Will he forgive me? _

_Iroh can be proud. The Black Lotus Council can be proud. __Despite all that has happened, the Grandmaster has delivered not only a Lord of the Fire Nation who has helped the Avatar to save the world, but now will save the very existence of the Order… I can only be grateful for that, for I had to leave my boy before he reached the age of reason. I know I had to in order to save him, but it's still hard to live with, feeling that somehow my banishment caused the hardship he had to endure in the following years. Even if he will forgive me, I wonder if I ever will be able to forgive myself._

_At least __I feel that his years of loneliness are over. Both Iroh and Aunt Wu have seen it well. When the war was over, I was being told by my helpers that my son had found a girlfriend in Mai, one of my daughter's best friends. And although I didn't understand, I was happy for him. Until I saw this picture. Then I knew that relationship was never be meant to be, for my son's heart had already chosen for him. And the girl's heart had answered. _

_Countless of times I've stared at __the picture of the Young War Heroes, Iroh had persuaded them in to posing for, officially for the world to see their saviors, but in reality made for a mother craving to see what had become of her son… _

_Iroh had made sure to send as much copies across the world as possible for me to find one._

_When the picture was brought to me by my helpers, ripped off some wall in a small Earth Kingdom town, __I was overjoyed. To be able to see my little boy, after so many years of missing him._

_But the world collapsed around me __when I saw the scar disheveling his regular features. I had to lower the picture, calming down my ragged breathing as I felt my stomach turn and nausea washed over me. It was worse than anything I had ever imagined, when Iroh's letter had reached me back then, bringing the horrible news. Almost the entire left side of his face had been burned away and his hair, pulled away in a formal topknot, revealed that his ear hadn't been spared too. _

_I had closed my eyes as __hot tears fell onto the picture. My hand holding the paper had clenched into a fist, until a warm hand pried away my fingers, gently pulling the paper from my grasp. _

"_Careful, you don't want to spoil this," one of my vassals, the one I secretly he__ld dearest because his gruff yet sweet attitude reminded me so much of my son, told me as he smoothed out the wrinkles. Then he placed the picture into my view again, ignoring my groan of agony. "Look, sister, look at him," he urged. "Look at his eyes."_

_I shivered but obeyed his demand, __again looking at the horrible, disheveled face. And from the angry red skin two slanted, golden eyes looked at me with that gentle look I had missed so much. He held no grudge. _

_My boy. He had grown up __so beautifully, having inherited the dashing looks from his father, but with the soft line of my cheekbones. The scar which had frightened me of before, only seemed to add a certain mystery to his perfect features, making his face infinitely interesting to study. My shoulders slowly relaxed._

_I felt the hand which had been resting on my shoulder to sooth me, slowly pull away and a small, water__y smile curled up my lips as I accepted my son's deepest hardship as having become a part of him._

"_And look, the__se are his friends," I whispered gratefully, looking at the group of young people from all nations surrounding him. And somehow, my eyes were immediately drawn to the girl standing in front of him. _

_Perhaps I followed my son's gaze on the picture, or did I notice his body language which told me of his full attention to her who was dressed in bl__ue. They were in perfect harmony with each other. _

_The slender, tan girl with __the large blue eyes in which I noticed a distinct, caring expression, was dressed in a beautifully embroidered silk dress, laced with fur, her hairdo an intricate piece of art with pearls woven through the dark brown curls. A waterbender. _

_And not just a waterbender. __This must have been the girl who had freed the Avatar from the iceberg, paving the way to peace among all nations, the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe. She was beautiful._

_The painter__ had portrayed them well, my son and this girl. Probably by orders of Iroh, he had put them together in this composition, in harmonious completion of each other, despite their awkward expressions._

_In the middle of the picture the painter __had put together the young Avatar and a sturdy girl his age who I figured to be his earthbending sifu. _

_I was being told s__he was a Bei Fong. When on my travels through the Earth Kingdom I had heard about this powerful, noble family whose influence reached almost up to Ba Sing Se. And although the young Avatar didn't seem to notice, occupied as he was with the beautiful waterbender standing in front of my son, her whole attitude told me that the Bei Fong girl was exactly what he needed when they would grow up._

_My dearest helpers. You've done your job so well. __All these years you've stayed by my side, faithfully carrying out the Order's protection, having become my family. Then you've saved my son, giving him direction. I'll ask one last thing of you and then, after fifteen long years of wandering, you'll be free. The Spirit Princess and her nine vassals will no longer be. The mask can finally be removed. And I hope I will be free too…_

_Will he be able to forgive me?_

… _Will she?_

---

Zuko bowed toward Katara, whispering. "We just buy a fish, say goodbye and head back for Appa as soon as possible, otherwise…"

"this will take all day," the travelers simultaneously mumbled to each other as they followed the fisherman who went by many names. They looked up in surprise and a smile spread on their faces. They both had experienced the village's friendliness.

Despite their good intentions they only managed to free themselves after what seemed like many, many hours. Zuko noticed how hard it was to say goodbye without grim guards surrounding him to whom the word polite didn't mean anything.

The villagers were overjoyed having their Fire Lord and beloved waterbender both visiting them. They even were suspiciously overjoyed. The women cast enthusiastic gazes at them, while the men seemed to nod approvingly, but as soon as Katara looked in their direction their expressions turned into an innocent smile.

She was distracted by a small boy in a red cotton shirt tugging her by her dress as he looked up at her with large, adoring eyes. The boy she'd given a fish. With a smile Katara picked him up and turned toward Zuko. "Zuko, I want you to meet my Lee."

And as the boy shyly tried to made a bow while being in Katara's arms, saying: "My name is not Lee!", Zuko's eyes met Katara's and a small smile appeared on his features before he nodded solemnly to the boy. He understood.

***

The sun rose for the second time since Zuko and Katara had left Jang Hui, promising they would return. Somehow Katara had a strange feeling they actually would be coming back together, her mind wandering back to that vision of the future again.

The mountains, which had been low and sloping on the outer islands, increasingly became taller and pointier once when they came closer to the Fire Nation mainland, grimly cutting the blue sky above. Then, as they rounded a sharp turn they left the last mountain range and suddenly the travelers on the flying bison had an astounding view on a red and gold city lain in the crater of a dead volcano, surrounded by the volcano's ridges sharply pointing skywards. In the middle, the proud Fire Nation Royal Palace radiated in the golden sun.

The palace was an unique mixture of modern industrialism and ancient architecture. Overwhelming, impressive in their massiveness in gold and red, the towers flanking the palace rose from the crater as razor sharp needles.

Whereas the city of the Southern Water Tribe even in her rebuild grandeur seamlessly merged with her surroundings and in the grand city of Ba Sing Se, the buildings seemed rooted to the ground they were build on, these buildings reached for the sky, like flames of a majestic bonfire.

A city worthy of the Lord of the Dragon Throne.

"Sozin. We're finally here," Zuko mumbled next to Katara and she smiled, having heard the longing in his voice. Despite his gratitude when Iroh offered him a way to break out of the routine, he had missed the palace and the expectation of seeing his mother again only fuelled his eagerness to come home. Zuko looked at her from the corner of his eyes and caught the admiring look in Katara's eyes, as they wandered across the spectacular scenery. "I never tire of the sight," she explained quietly when her gaze crossed his and he flashed her a sudden, brilliant smile that made her avert her eyes hastily. But Zuko only felt absurdly happy for Katara's admission and with quickening heart he steered Appa toward the mighty Fire Nation Palace in the heart of the Capital's Crater.

"I really should do something about the name," he then said dryly.

---

"Where is he taking us?" Toph mumbled as she trudged along in Aang's steps. They had been walking for what seemed like hours, following the monkey who jumped ahead of them, restlessly.

A cackling laugh reached their ears. "Already tired, little earthbender? I'm not surprised, the Spirit World isn't meant for earthbenders from the world of the living."

"Shut up, monkey. I didn't ask your opinion, didn't I?" Toph snapped at him. "If only I had a few rocks to throw at him…"

Suddenly she tripped and fell down with a yelp. "What was that?"

"Just a little something to grant your wishes. The monkey can be very annoying at times," a wise voice spoke up from behind them and Aang spun around. "Roku!"

"Hello Aang. Good to see you…" the tall firebender slightly turned around, "and your earthbending sifu. Hello Toph, I'm glad to finally meet you. You look as sturdy as Sud was in my days. Thanks for persuading Aang into taking you into the Spirit World with him."

The old Avatar smiled when Toph made an elegant bow, a very formal one that was only used before the Earth King and the King of Omashu. Her noble background had taught her well in the rules of etiquette.

"Maybe as sturdy, but a lot better mannered I see," Roku commented and a small smirk appeared on Toph's lips.

"Roku, what are you doing here?" Aang then asked, his mood lifting several degrees.

"I'm here because from this moment I shall accompany you for a while as you continue your journey through the Spirit World."

The old man smiled again when he saw a relieved expression appear on two very tired faces.

***

"Roku, do you know what we are supposed to do in here?" The old Avatar hadn't had the chance to made two steps forward, when he halted and looked at his young successor.

"I think you yourself know best. What do you think you're here for?"

"We're here because of the dreams that keep plaguing Toph and me. It seemed like the spirits wanted us to come to the Spirit World. It… it seems like…" Aang stuttered and secretly cast a glance at his blind companion. "As if something bad is going to happen to Toph," he said quietly.

Roku didn't react, but let his wise, golden gaze rest upon the petite earthbender. Her delicate features, in such contrast with her sturdy nature, framed the glassy, milk green eyes. "Has Aang ever told you about the things he dreamt of?" He then asked casually, his voice betraying nothing. Toph shook her head, after a hesitant moment of silence. "No."

Aang froze, bracing himself for a reprimand from the old Avatar, but Roku just turned around and set himself in motion again.

"That's interesting," was the only thing he said.

After having walked for many hours straight, the monkey king, who showed no signs of fatigue decided for a short break, to spare the humans, as he disdainfully called them.

"Watch your tongue, dear friend. In the world of the living my successor has powers that equal yours in heaven," Roku told the monkey returning his attention to him, after having looked around with a wary expression in his eyes. "And if Aang hadn't defeated the Fire Lord on earth even we who dwell in the Spirit World would have suffered the consequences."

The Monkey King wrinkled his nose.

Toph carefully sat down on the swampy underground and leaned her head in her hands. She wasn't tired or hungry, even wondered if she would ever feel such earthly needs again, but after living in a world of darkness for fourteen years, the impressions swirling through her head exhausted her.

She looked around the little circle they formed. To her right hand sat Avatar Roku, wise as always, next to him was the monkey with his silvery beard and grumpy face and in between the monkey and herself there was nothing. Only when he bowed forward and put his hand on her knee while asking if she was alright, she knew Aang was sitting next to her. She lifted her chin and smiled bravely. "Of course I am Twinkle Toes. What do you take me for?"

"A weak, blind human I guess," the monkey remarked, then shut his mouth when Roku sent him a frightening, warning gaze. But Roku's intervention hadn't been necessary. A loud shrieking emerged from the monkey as he jumped around, trying to avoid several boulders furiously trying to hit him. The boulders Roku had given Toph because of that very monkey.

Aang and Roku started to laugh and a smirk appeared on Toph's features, when suddenly a pleasant baritone voice said: "What's this noise all about?"

The three travelers spun around and the Monkey King was forgotten. After a moment, Roku rose from his seat and approached the stranger, slightly spreading his arms in a welcoming gesture. The young man, handsome in his red and gold uniform, with sideburns framing his pale face, his silky black hair pulled back into a topknot, inclined his head in respect. The golden flame in his hair gleamed.

"My friend, you're most welcome," Avatar Roku spoke. " We already expected you to complete the band of travelers, seeking to save the Order of the White Lotus in the realm of the spirits. Your father would be proud… Prince Lu Ten."

---

Appa described a gentle turn, then landed soundlessly on a large courtyard surrounded by a colonnade and majestic buildings. A platform could be seen at the far end of the courtyard which clearly was meant for containing hundreds of people. The Royal Palace Coronation Plaza.

The two travelers climbed of the gigantic bison, their cloaks billowing softly in the wind as they looked up at the mighty palace around them, the environment waking up memories of the events which had taken place here two years ago. After Zuko's coronation, when the plaza had been filled with cheering people, she never had been back again, subconsciously avoiding the place where she and Zuko had fought for their lives.

Katara for a moment closed her eyes as images of a deadly wounded Zuko came to mind again, his hand still twitching from the blast of lightning Azula had send to her and which he had caught. That moment she had done the unthinkable… she had defeated Princess Azula, her firebending counterpart.

"Katara…?"

She looked up, seeing his questioning gaze. Then she realized she had approached the place where Zuko's broken body had been, those two years ago, reaching for her necklace as she stared down on the grey flagstones. Here she had healed him as quickly as she could, saving his life but leaving him with another scare to mar his skin. Somehow it had always felt as second betrayal to him, after she had let him down in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se. That was, until that intimate moment in that filthy inn had come…

"I was thinking that I could have healed your scar a lot better, if I had had more sessions with you. Like Aang." Her voice trailed away as the memory of his face, closer than ever before when she bowed forward to heal and thank him, flashed through her mind. It had cost all of her restraint not to give in and lean in…

Zuko was silent for a moment, imagining how it would have been if Katara had stayed a little longer at the palace, taking care of his wound. During the few days between his father's defeat and the coronation, she had persuaded him into undergoing a few more healing sessions and he remembered how she would take off the large bandages with her small hands, then bowed forward to carefully touch the fiery star shaped skin on his chest, before she would bend some sparkling water from the silver bowl beside her. He would never forget the soothing feeling of the cool water on the burning skin and the concentrated look in her eyes, fixating on his chest as if she wanted stare the wound away.

"That would have been nice," Zuko said. "If there had been more time… and opportunity." He remembered how Mai would enter the room as soon as Katara was done, almost as if she had been listening at the door, and insisted on helping him into his robes.

A wry smile appeared on Katara's features. "I know," she said softly, then straightened up, turning her back on the emotionally charged place. "So, where do you want to go?"

For a moment he didn't answer, then his soft voice echoed against the walls in determination. "To my mother's turtle duck pond."

***

Katara looked around, taking in the peaceful surroundings. Princess Ursa's garden was one of the most secluded ones and famous for the many fire lilies growing in them.

The lukewarm wind with a soft rustling sound gently caressed the grass surrounding her, while the scent of the waving fire lilies filled the air. A few turtle ducks had positioned themselves on the grass next to the pond, their small heads tucked between their feathers. And she knew the circle was full, Zuko had returned to the place where his journey had started.

"She isn't here."

The gardens were empty but for them and Appa and no guard seemed to have noticed their coming.

Zuko's gaze darkened and he bowed his head as he sighed, pinching his nose. Somehow he had hoped that he could find his mother at her favorite place, the place where he had seen the mysterious vision of the Painted Lady flowing above the water in the pond: her own garden, with the white lotus still resting peacefully upon the calm surface of the turtle duck pond, a mysterious glow seeming to emanate from the petals.

The soft sound of turtle ducks cleaning their feathers with soft, satisfied noises reached his ears. The mother had gathered her little ducklings around her as she sought out the safety of the high leaved irises.

Absent-mindedly his gaze focused on the little animals he knew so well. A mother with her children. They had grown since he had left the palace, he noticed. He couldn't even recognize the one which had picked the rice from his hand anymore. As always the mother duck kept her ducklings close.

'_I know what my mother would do if she were to return to the S__outh Pole,'_ Katara's voice then softly echoed in his mind.

'_She would come looking for you,'_ his own voice replied understandingly.

Zuko watched as the mother duck noticed one of the ducklings trying to swim off on its own and with a stern quack called it back.

'_And my father and Sokka…'_

Zuko sucked in his breath in shock and bit his lip. Of course. He should have seen it earlier.

"I know where to find my mother," he said quietly, his gaze not averting from the turtle ducks, their shields shining in the afternoon sun.

Katara remained silent, now realizing that from this moment of, she would lose the one connection which only she had with him. It had been her to whom he had first spilled his grief over the loss of his mother. It had been him to whom she had spoken of her infinite sadness. This traumatic event in their lives, the loss of their mothers, had established a bond stronger than all they had ever known. It had caused the deepest sorrow in their relationship. Now, she was on the brink of losing it all.

With all her heart she had wished for him to find his mother, but she knew that deep down her heart a treacherous little spot had prepared itself for consoling him if that day would never come for him and she knew she wouldn't have felt as lonely as she did now, knowing that she were never to meet her own mother again…

She bravely swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to bite back her tears as her blurring gaze stubbornly kept following the mother turtle duck and her ducklings.

"Hey…" An arm gently slid around her shoulders, pulling her into a broad shoulder. The tears she had been trying to withhold, started to flow freely from her cheeks, soaking his silk shirt, as she cried soundlessly.

"I know," he whispered. It had been the one thing Zuko had felt horribly guilty about, the only thing he dreaded in meeting his mother. Knowing that Katara had to stand alone and watch a happy reunion between mother and son, while her own mother would never be returning to the South Pole again. Somehow, it felt like a betrayal all over again that he was to get his mother back, while she…

"I think I never told you about what your father said to me, that evening after dinner, when he held me back, didn't I?" He said softly, leaning his chin on her hair. Katara opened her eyes, then shook her head against his chest.

"I was really nervous, you know, I thought that he wanted to warn me not to do anything to his daughter," Zuko's voice quietly told her, calming her down. "But instead he… offered me a place among his own children, for when the time came I needed more than a Grandmaster of the White Lotus Society to talk to."

He felt a light shock go through Katara's body leaning against his. "He did?" She then whispered and he nodded slowly.

"And you know, my father may still be alive, but for all he ever did to me while he has never been there for me, he might as well not be. Your father's offer meant the world to me." He was silent for a moment.

Then he said softly: "My mother is a very warm-hearted person and I know she will be there for you, just like your father wants to be there for me."

Katara let this sink in for a moment, his words a spark of light in her misery, knowing he truly understood. She looked up and smiled shakily.

"Thank you," she whispered and allowed him to wipe away the tears from her cheeks, then took his hand and squeezed it. "I think it's time to reunite you with your mother."

Appa lay down on the grass and groaned softly as two figures disappeared behind the golden pillars of the colonnade surrounding the garden, their cloaks billowing streaks of dark red underneath the clear blue sky.

***

"We have to be careful, I don't want to run into anybody. We would never be able to complete our mission."

Katara nodded understandingly, knowing from what she had experienced in the Southern Water Tribe Palace what their presence being discovered would mean.

"Sadly, we've entered a part of the palace from where it's a very long walk toward where I want to go," Zuko whispered as he pulled up his hood and gestured to Katara to do the same. Then a small ray of sunlight lit up his smirk. "At least I have a bit of fun sneaking around in my own house."

***

On a very high speed two shadows rushed through the grand corridors, their silhouettes clad in dark red merging with the red marble and silk on the floors and walls surrounding them. They neatly avoided several guards, placed on every ten meters distance from each other, looking grim in their heavy red armors.

Then the shadows rounded a corner and entered an ornate corridor containing immense, gold decorated portraits. They were portraits of Fire Lords of the past and… the present.

One of the shadows halted and put down her hood as she looked up at one of them, her blue eyes wide. Last time she had seen the portrait gallery, last in row had been the picture of Fire Lord Ozai, holding a blue flame in his hand while the comet above his head mirrored the one above Fire Lord Sozin's, a self-complacent smirk disfiguring his serene expression.

But now a new portrait had been added to the gallery. A portrait of a very young man, barely out of his teens, his tall posture dignified in the long ceremonial robes, as he was standing in the traditional position with his palms turned upward. A golden flame burned in one of them.

"The portrait, it's done," the young woman said quietly, clearly impressed as she hesitantly took one step forward, her gaze imprisoned by the slanted golden eyes gently looking down on her. The young man's silky black hair, unlike the other Fir Lords was pulled back into a topknot entirely, the golden hairpiece, symbol of his station, gleaming.

The young woman's eyes wandered across the magnificent portrait, taking in the beauty of the composition.

Whereas other Fire Lords were standing on fire or, in Sozin's case, on the soldiers striking for victory on the day the first comet came, this portrait was decorated with a beautiful picture of two dragons, one red, one blue, winding themselves around each other at the Fire Lord's feet. Above his head an aureole of the symbols of all four nations in each of their own colors crowned the portrait.

The amount of detail in the portrait was overwhelming, from the soft gleam of the sash's black silk to the ultrathin pieces of gold plate used to enhance the intensity of the fire in the Fire Lord's hand. The young woman could even make out the design of the robe's red brocade.

The taller shadow spun around, then took a few steps back and cast a quick glance on the portrait. "Yeah, finally. Really glad to. So, can we…"

The young woman took another step forward. Her eyes had come to rest upon the left palm turned upward. While the other Fire Lords held fire or a piece of parchment in their left hand, the young man held a lotus flower, its white petals glowing brightly in the red and gold portrait.

"The white lotus." The surprise in her voice was clear.

Next to her, the taller shadow sighed. "That was actually my uncle's idea. He thought it would be a nice symbol to represent unity in this portrait."

He pulled off his hood and ran a hand through his hair. "Of course I should have known that it was part of his set up for my becoming a member of the White Lotus Society." He shook his head and grinned sarcastically. "Well, any other flower had looked too girly anyway. So… please, Katara, can we…"

The young woman didn't react. "It's beautiful," she then said softly. "The dragons, the symbols of the four nations, the white lotus…" Her gaze wandered off to the flame shaped scar marring the otherwise perfect face. "You're beautiful."

The young man cast a glance at her, his face bright red in embarrassment, then looked at the painting again. "I guess it's alright," he mumbled.

"I dare to object, Your Majesty. This portrait shows in all its brilliance the most important achievements of your rule: balance, peace and unity. In my opinion it's the most important picture in this gallery up until now, showing the end to a dark story of megalomania and violence." An older man in formal red robes, looking a bit like General Iroh stepped forward from the shadows where he had been standing. He smiled. "May I ask how it's possible I have the honor of running into Your Majesty while I've been told Your Majesty was on a journey through the Earth Kingdom?"

Zuko's sucked in his breath, shocked. "The Lord Chamberlain!" He exclaimed, groaning inwardly, then his eyes flashed to each side of the corridor, before pulling the man into the shadows again. The Chamberlain's eyes widened. The Fire Lord had never touched him before.

"Actually, I'm not really back yet," Zuko whispered urgently, a pleading look in his eyes. "But I need to go to the west wing of the palace."

For a moment the Chamberlain didn't react, his expression thoughtful, then he smiled knowingly. "Of course does the Fire Lord have not returned yet. But may I suggest I will accompany His Majesty and Your Highness…" with that he turned to Katara and bowed respectfully, "to the west wing? There are some very quiet and inconspiceous servant's corridors I can highly recommend."

The Lord Chamberlain led them through a door hidden behind a brocade curtain and from one moment to another, they were standing in a narrow, dimly lit corridor, with white plastered walls and simple, red flagstones on the ground. The contrast with the splendor of the portrait gallery couldn't be bigger.

Katara looked around in amazement, but Zuko thought he recognized the corridor from long ago, when his mother had told him to go play hide and explode with Azula and her friends.

The Lord Chamberlain gave them a moment to adjust their eyes to the half-light and signaled for them to follow him in what seemed to be western direction.

They walked for what seemed to be hours without having to hide for anybody. The corridors were completely abandoned. When Katara asked him about it, the Lord Chamberlain explained to her on a hushed tone that this section of the palace was used for formal events only and most staff was concentrated on the section where the royal family had their quarters.

Then the Lord Chamberlain was silent again and slightly quickened his pace. He rounded another corner but where Zuko had expected him to go to the right, he suddenly took a turn left.

Zuko for a moment stepped short, an expression of confusion appearing on his features. The Chamberlain turned around, a sudden unrest in his eyes Zuko had never seen before with the man. "Your Majesty, please don't fall back. It's still a long walk to the west wing."

But there was some edge to his voice, Zuko suddenly didn't trust anymore. He bowed his head. It couldn't be…?

Katara turned around and saw Zuko standing still, his posture wary.

"What's the haste, Lord Chamberlain? Last time I checked there was nothing wrong with my sense of direction and my sense of direction is telling me that we have to go right." Zuko's voice was flat, but Katara felt he was bracing himself for the worst. He feared to be betrayed by the one man he trusted the most inside this palace.

Invisible to the Lord Chamberlain her hand went to the water pouch on her waist. Her eyes slightly narrowed.

The Lord Chamberlain for a moment looked from one bender to the other and his face fell as he sighed dejectedly. "You've seen it well, Your Majesty. I was planning on taking a detour, without Your Majesty's consent. I don't know what it is you seek in the west wing of the palace, but as I walked through this corridor on my way to the portrait gallery, I came across a… meeting I very much wanted His Majesty to witness, for I think it holds great danger to his ruling… and his life."

He looked up pleadingly. "Please Your Majesty. Have I ever led you astray? I respectfully ask Your Majesty to trust me on this. I merely wanted to avoid an order from Your Majesty to bring him to the west wing immediately, to which command I can only obey."

Zuko for a moment didn't react, his eyes narrowing as he weighed the Chamberlain's words. The man had never lied to him before, or betrayed him and his concern seemed honest. Zuko made a decision.

"Lord Chamberlain," Zuko then spoke. "Does what you want me to see have anything to do with the rebelling nobles?"

The Chamberlain paled and nodded. "They have been strengthening their position while Your Majesty was away."

"Alright," Zuko nodded. "Then show me."

***

"General Bujing and Admiral Chan. Why are you telling me all of this? So, the Fire Lord has already returned to the Fire Nation. That hardly means bad news." The mumbling voice of the Prime-Minister sounded weary as he leaned forward and leaned his chin on his folded hands. As the Lord Chamberlain nodded, Zuko and Katara soundlessly took position behind the curtain, hiding the servant's door from view.

Zuko's eyes darkened. Admiral Chan and General Bujing. That could only mean one thing: the rebelling nobles had felt assure enough to approach his Prime-Minister.

His eyes for a moment stayed to rest upon the old general, feeling nauseated. He had always felt disgust for the ruthless old man, to whom he had stood up against in the war room so many years ago, which ultimately had cost him his face. Zuko knew the general hadn't taken it lightly when he had sidelined him soon after his coronation.

Now the old man and the younger, taller Admiral Chan narrowed their eyes as they too, slightly leaned forward in their chairs.

"We have indications that he brought someone with him," Admiral Chan said, a threatening undertone in his voice. "And that this person… this woman is the reason he hasn't made his presence known yet."

The Prime-Minister now narrowed his eyes. "What are you suggesting, Admiral Chan? I know who is travelling in the company of our Fire Lord, may Agni protect him…"

The admiral and general widened their eyes in dismay, then with clear reluctance bowed their heads and mumbled something unintelligible in response. A hint of smirk passed over the Prime-Minister's face and behind the curtain Zuko smirked too, appreciating the Prime-Minister's small sly dig. According to tradition, the rebels still had to honor the majesty of their Fire Lord.

"… so you didn't reveal anything unbeknownst to me. I'm sure His Majesty and the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe," the Prime-Minister put slight emphasis on Katara's title, "have their reasons for not making their return to the Fire Nation known."

"Ah well," the soldiers looked at each other, a cunning look in their eyes, "that's what we have news on. It appeared that my son and his friend had the lucky fortune of… running into the Fire Lord and the Water Princess," a meaningful silence paused his sentence, "when on Ember Island. They seemed… quite friendly with each other."

Zuko paled and felt his stomach fall, but the Prime-Minister didn't react as shocked as the rebels had hoped for. Instead, he rummaged a bit through the papers on his desk.

"Yes, I heard about that," he then said on a bored tone and cast a sharp glance at the men sitting across of him. "It appeared that your son," he looked pointedly at Admiral Chan, "and his friend tried to break into the Fire Lord's beach house."

The admiral's eyes widened in shock and Zuko and Katara looked at each other in amazement. Zuko realized that his secret intelligence service apparently stayed in contact with his housekeeper.

"That makes me curious." The Prime-Minister leaned back into his chair, putting his fingers against each other, his elbows placed on the elbow-rests. "What were Chan and Ruon-Jian looking for? Are you aware of the punishment that stands on crimes committed against the Fire Lord?"

Admiral Chan shot up from his chair, his eyes blazing, but General Bujing rose as well, putting a hand on Admiral Chan's arm as he said on a calming tone: "I think that we've spoken enough about this matter for now. We will take our leave."

"That would be wise, General," the Prime-Minister answered, his voice cold.

The rebels headed for the door, but before General Bujing would follow Admiral Chan outside, he turned around. "There's one thing, Your Excellency. It appears that the Fire Lord has fallen in love with the Water Princess. I'm sure Your Excellency can imagine what this would mean for the future of this beautiful country."

No.

Zuko's heart skipped a beat and he froze, the blood starting to pound in his ears as he heard the words General Bujing had spoken so carelessly. The ruthless General Bujing had said out loud what he hadn't even dared to say it to Katara out loud himself, now being displayed out in the open by the leader of those war mongering rebels: the simple truth. It was horribly confronting. He had never felt so vulnerable before. He didn't dare to meet Katara's gaze.

The Prime-Minister watched as the General carefully closed the door behind him, then let his head fall into his hands. Then he rose and opened a door behind his desk. "Call for the vice-Prime-Minister and the head of the secret intelligence service. We have a major problem on our hands."

***

"I have to talk to him," Zuko said tonelessly, finally turning around to meet Katara's gaze. For a moment they silently stared at each other, countless feelings and thoughts storming behind their eyes. Hope, anger, despair, rejection of the Prime-Minister's words, but as the silence grew longer and tears started to fill Katara's eyes she started to realize that from now on their lives would separate again, the travels would be over and things would be as if their journey never would have happened. Only the peaceful existence of the White Lotus Society would remind them of the time they had spend together. Reality had caught up with them finally.

"It's important we let the Prime-Minister know… he has nothing to worry about." Katara's voice trembled as she bowed her head and closed her eyes in determination. The glimpse of the future the white lotus had given them on the South Pole now seemed more unreal and farther away as they forcefully were drawn back into Fire Nation politics. This wasn't about Zuko and her alone anymore. The choice about the future Fire Lady wasn't only the Fire Lord's to make.

"Katara… I," Zuko started, but she slowly shook her head and put her finger on his mouth, completely forgetting about the Chamberlain having retreated a bit, with sorrow in his eyes. "Please, don't say anything. This had to happen. We set out to find your mother and we did."

Zuko closed his eyes. "It's not fair," he whispered and a shiver ran down Katara's spine when she felt his soft lips move against her finger. Tears started to fill her eyes, becoming a close resemblance to the deep blue sea."I know."

"Isn't there a way…" Zuko started again, but he too felt the inevitability of the situation at hand. The Fire Lord never had married someone outside the Fire Nation nobility, let alone outside the Fire Nation itself. The rebels knew exactly what they were doing. It was hopeless.

Katara put a hand on his marred cheek. "I wish there was," she whispered hoarsely.

Zuko closed his eyes. Her words gave him a final confirmation about the existence of her deep, genuine feelings for him. And as he drank in the passion behind her whisper, he felt the bitterness of forever knowing that Katara returned his feelings, never to be able to taste that joy that again.

Then Katara closed her eyes and her lips touched his in a small kiss, lingering in infinite longing and regret.

Zuko lifted his hand to stroke her hair, then she withdrew and turned around.

The Lord Chamberlain averted his watchful eyes from the mysterious lotus clasps as the gleam disappeared again. He felt his heart wrench for the young people.

Had it only been six weeks since he had worried about the Fire Lord making a mistake about his feelings for the Lady Mai? And here the young man stood again, weary from his travels, unrecognizable in his hooded cloak, with this mysterious golden lotus clasp on it. His hair was messy, having become a bit too long to the Chamberlain's opinion.

The Fire Lord had changed since he and the Water Princess had suddenly disappeared on them in Omashu. Something about his attitude and that of the Water Princess, a new wisdom in their eyes, told the Chamberlain he was standing before two very high ranked members of the White Lotus Society. But above all the Fire Lord's gaze at the Water Princess told the old man that the Fire Lord had found his happiness. And had been denied it as well.

He cleared his throat and made a small step forward.

"I don't think that would be wise right now, Your Majesty" he said softly, reacting to Zuko's bitter words, "given the fact that you are still incognito. I want to remind you of where you were heading. At least you know now about the rebels' pressure upon the government to act."

Zuko contemplated this for a moment, casting another glance at his Prime- Minister, then closed the secret door to the corridor. His voice was cold when he spoke again.

"You're right. I think it's best if we continue on our paths. Thank you for showing me this, Chamberlain. I expect to end this journey any moment now and then I will see to the matters at hand as soon as possible."

His closed off expression was a silent witness to the offer he made. The Chamberlain with a sad look glanced at the Water Princess and saw an equally empty gaze, before the travelers turned around, their hands lightly brushing each other.

Then the Fire Lord bowed his head. "Let's go."

---

General Bujing and Admiral Chan walked down the stairs from the palace's main entrance, haughtily ignoring the guards from the Royal Procession accompanying them.

"The Prime-Minister appeared to be better informed than we thought," Admiral Chan spoke quietly, his mouth barely moving as his gaze remained fixed on the golden gate before them.

"He's bluffing," General Bujing answered, "but Defense Minister Jeong Jeong has instructed the secret intelligence service well. It's time for plan B."

The men stayed silent until they were escorted outside the gate, then turned around to see the guards leave and close the gate behind them.

Then General Bujing motioned for his carriage to come and got seated. Before the curtain was closed, he leaned forward and said: "Go visit Lady Mai's house and ask her father to speak with his daughter. I think that she deserves to know when her boyfriend," the malice was dripping from his voice as he said it, "has returned to the Fire Nation."

***

It was dark in the dead quiet room, the curtains carefully being shut down looked like they hadn't been opened for a long time. The dimly lit room was simply furnished with only a bed and the pale pink and white colors decorating walls and floor breathed a calm and peaceful atmosphere.

A small squeak of a door being opened very carefully broke through the quiet and two figures, clad in dark blue stepped aside. A tall silhouette appeared in the doorway, the lights of the corridor behind him casting long shadows upon the floor.

For a moment he stood motionless, then Zuko stepped inside the room, his eyes fixed on the figure sitting by the bed. It was a woman, dressed in spotless white and with part of her long, silky black hair pulled back in a topknot. Her silhouette was slightly hunched, giving her a worried look as her hands gently held the slender, pale hand resting upon the white sheets. She didn't turn around.

"Mom." A voice, hoarse from countless emotions fighting to get the upper hand, cut through the silence.

The woman bowed her head. "So, you've finally found me… my boy."

She stood up, carefully holding on to the hand of the young woman lying in bed. The girl's pale, slightly sunken but still beautiful face was framed by jet black hair being pulled back into a high ponytail, strangely enough giving her a strong resemblance to the early childhood day's appearance of the man standing in the doorway. She sighed in her sleep.

Zuko immediately noticed a new expression he had never seen on his sister's face before. She looked… peaceful, younger somehow, as her hand was held by the woman in white. Like a mask of cruelty and hatred had been pulled off to show a glimpse of what had remained hidden for years; another side to his sister.

He fixed his gaze on the woman slowly turning around and swallowed with difficulty.

"I'm so glad you're taking care of your sister so well, even after all that has happened…"

She lowered her gaze, an infinitely sad expression in her gentle, light brown eyes as she looked at her daughter. "You do what I couldn't."

"Please… don't blame yourself…," he whispered with difficulty. "Mom…"

Then everything became a blur to Zuko. Afterwards he remembered having taken two more steps into the room, then the next moment he was lying in his mother's arms, his head pressed onto her frail shoulder as they both cried bitter tears. Tears of sadness for the time they had desperately missed each other. Tears of joy to finally be able to hold the other in their arms again.

With desperate strength Zuko's arms circled around the slender woman whose small hands clenched to fists on his back, grabbing and rumpling the silk of his shirt in the process.

"Mom… I missed you… so much," he choked. "I thought… I thought you were… dead."

"Zuko… my dearest boy… please forgive me," she whispered into his chest. "I'm sorry, I'm… I'm so… sorry."

For a moment they remained standing like that, holding each other, as the world around them seemed to slow down and stop. Zuko had found his mother back.

After a few minutes, Zuko's breathing slightly calmed down. Then his mother's words started to sink in. She was begging for his forgiveness, for leaving him behind all those years ago. He started to realize that she must have feared this moment more than anything she had ever feared in her life: having to meet her beloved son who had adored her so much, but whom she had nonetheless exposed to his father's cruelty by leaving him behind. And then facing her daughter who had grown up to resemble her maniacal father, her insanity enforced by her mother's clear rejection of her own daughter and eventually had broken down over her.

Ursa must have been eaten by guilt.

He heaved his head a bit and suddenly noticed how much taller he had grown since the last time he had seen his mother, a frail person in his arms. She was as much clinging to him for support as he was to her, maybe even more. Her body trembled in his arms as he held her. He realized he wasn't a little child anymore and that his mother needed him.

Hesitantly he put his hand behind her head, trying to hush her in quiet tones, feeling horrible she had to carry such a weight for those long years. She didn't deserve that.

Eventually she calmed down and stepped back, cupping his face with her hands. She smiled through her tears.

"My Zuko… I'm so proud of you of what you've become," she whispered and caressed his marred cheek with the back of her hand, trying to wipe away the tears.

Suddenly a small ribbon of glistening tears lifted from their faces and drifted toward the doorway, toward the slender form of a young woman who now stepped into the half-light, her own face wet from tears too. She smiled a watery smile and with a flick of her wrist added her own tears to the small stream.

"At least the tearbending now comes in handy," Katara said softly and Princess Ursa let go of her son.

"You must be Katara," she said and approached the waterbender, a smile lighting up her light brown eyes.

The first thing Katara thought when she saw the Spirit Princess, (no, Zuko's mother!) approach her was that she looked beautiful. She seemed to float as she came nearer, her white silk dress emphasizing the pale color of her skin and her gleaming ebony hair, half pulled up in a topknot. And in the gentle, light brown eyes, set in perfect features, Katara recognized the same slightly melancholic gaze she knew so well from Zuko. This was Avatar Roku's granddaughter, Princess to the Fire Nation and mother to the Fire Lord.

Katara closed her eyes and made a very elegant, very formal Fire Nation bow.

"Yes Your Majesty. I'm very honored to meet you."

Princess Ursa looked down on the young woman tenderly and slightly bowed forward to carefully take a hold on Katara's wrists, slowly lifting her up. "Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, I'm very honored by your kind acknowledgment, but the bow for the Fire Lady is only to be used in the presence of the rightful Fire Lady. Despite having been married to the previous Fire Lord, I never have been the Fire Lady, for I was already banished before Ozai ascended to the throne."

Katara hesitantly looked up and into Ursa's smiling face, then ever so naturally was pulled into a warm embrace. "Thank you my dear, for bringing my son here to me today, despite your own loss. And thank you for bringing so much joy into his life," Princess Ursa whispered to her and Katara felt a blush appear on her cheeks. Shyly she glanced at Zuko and was suddenly caught by the questioning gaze with which he looked at her.

Then Princess Ursa let go of the waterbender and with elegant steps walked back to the sleeping young woman in bed, calmed down by anesthetic herbs. She bowed over the girl and caressed her hair, then pressed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. "Sleep well, my daughter. I will be back for you."

---

A/N: _As always I want to thank everybody who reviewed previous chapter and of course I'm glad you all liked it. I'm still flattered to read that you love the story so much. It's really great. And thanks to those who have commented on the lay out._

_Then: this must have been the longest chapter yet I've ever published and there's so much going on in this one!_

_At first, maybe you've noticed it before but with Princess Ursa I like to experiment a bit with telling the story from a first person's point of view. I've limited the time Zuko and Katara spent in Jang Hui because they had to keep going and they can't afford any delay anymore. But I really wanted Zuko to meet 'Katara's Lee' and I've made that happen._

_Then, the Taang! The group forming around them may look a bit like The Lord of the Rings, but maybe you can remember that when I let Uncle Iroh explain the Monkey King's background I mentioned the Journey to the West. That novel is an account of the mythologized legends around the Buddhist monk Xuánzàng's pilgrimage to India during the Táng dynasty in order to obtain sutras. The Bodhisattva Guānyīn, on instruction from the Buddha, gives this task to the monk and his three protectors in the form of disciples — namely Sūn Wùkōng (The Monkey King), Zhū Bājiè and Shā Wùjìng — together with a dragon prince who acts as Xuánzàng's horse mount. These four characters have agreed to help Xuánzàng as an atonement for past sins._

_On the analogy of this group of travelers, in my story Toph and Aang have gotten company from Roku, the Monkey King himself and a dragon prince... called Lu Ten._

_Also, I have mentioned his name before, but now I explain more about him: General Bujing, the old general leading the rebelling nobles. He was the one who suggested to send unexperienced, young soldiers to the front of Ba Sing Se as cannon-fodder. And of course Jeong Jeong who has become minister of defence in Zuko's government. I've mentioned him before one or two chapters ago._

_Another character from a long time ago makes his rentree; the Lord Chamberlain who of course discovers Zuko and Katara sneaking around at the palace, but the most important part of the story is of course... Princess Ursa. Zuko has found his mother and he found her in Azula's room, where she's nursed after her nervous break down. I think the scene speaks for itself. Ursa has always given more attention to Zuko because Ozai had such fondness of his daugther, but in the end Zuko came out better and she never forgave herself for letting her daughter down. Also, Zuko noticed that the roles in this have become reversed. He was just a little boy when Ursa left and subconsciously his image of her has remained that of a 10 year old. Now, he notices that not only is he taller than his mother, but she leans on him for support too._

_The music for this chapter is from Harry Potter. I think I've never used HP soundtracks before, because the music so very recognizable but I love the soundtrack of the third movie. The track title also is very fitting for this chapter._

_Thanks for reading and until next time, when Zuko and Katara have a chance to actually talk to Ursa!_


	41. Zenith

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 40: Zenith**

Music: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Randgrith Archduke's Family (Valkyria Chronicles)

Katara carefully sat down and looked around. Outside, the musical song of the fire parakeets could be heard. She was distracted by a steaming cup of tea being held out to her and she took it with a grateful smile.

Zuko's Chamberlain in his subtle manner had led them from Azula's room to his own quarters, understanding that the Fire Lord nor his mother could be seen within the palace. The servant's corridors had been empty but for the mysterious shadows stealthily moving around, making sure the little procession could pass unhindered. Katara once caught a streak of dark blue disappearing around a corner. White Lotus Society. The loyal vassals of the Spirit Princess still protecting her, guarding her every step.

Now she found herself back in a comfortable living room, her fingers wrapping around the cup of tea as a small smile formed on the Chamberlain's lips in answer to Ursa's grateful look before he retreated to his study. Outside his quarters nine young men stood guard.

Katara's gaze wandered to the Princess sitting next to her, not being able to take her eyes of the beautiful woman. Her silky black hair gleamed in the afternoon sun peeking through the window, casting a golden glow on her pale skin. Her eyes were wide, her gaze fixed on Zuko sitting next to her, as she held his hand between hers, seeming to never let go of him. Zuko stared back at her, still not being able to grasp the fact that his mother was sitting beside him after all these years.

Then a small smile formed on Ursa's lips and hesitantly she lifted her hand, her fingertips lightly brushing his face. "I still can't believe you're really here with me… Zuko. You've grown so much."

Her hand cupped his head and her fingers came to rest upon the scar on his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned in to her touch. A gentle warmth spread through the sensitive skin, calming like the refreshing coolness of Katara's hands. He sighed and slowly straightened himself, carefully taking her hand from his face. "Don't blame yourself, mom. I have learned to live with it a long time ago. Please, accept it."

Her gaze turned tender and she lightly squeezed his hand. "I have accepted it, Zuko. I'm grateful you did too."

"With help from Katara," he answered quietly in his husky voice and for a moment Ursa saw his eyes lock with Katara's in an intense gaze, then the young Water Princess lowered her eyes and blushed.

"You have a strong bond," Ursa said softly. "Stronger than I had ever imagined… "

The knowing look in her eyes made Katara's cheeks turn crimson.

"Mom…" Zuko asked on a sudden impulse, then hesitated as he for a moment let his eyes wander to Katara. But before he could decide against continuing his question, Ursa already responded. "Yes Zuko?" She already seemed to foresee what he wanted to ask.

"When… when you… left…"

"I was banished, Zuko. It's better calling things by the name," his mother cut in calmly.

"Well, yes," for a moment he looked away and with an uneasy gesture ran a hand through his hair. "So, back then… Father said you did treacherous things. That night when you came to say goodbye, it was my knife you put on my pedestal, wasn't it?" Zuko bowed his head, not daring to look at Katara. He had never spoken of what had never been spoken about out loud before, remaining only a horrible suspicion in the dark corners of his mind.

Ursa was quiet for a moment, looking down on her son with an infinite sorrowful look in her eyes, knowing that with her act she had shattered his illusion of his mother's perfectness.

"I had to save you, my son," she repeated her words from so many years ago, putting her hand over his, only to feel him pull away quickly. She closed her eyes.

"Wasn't there another way?" He said on a low voice. "After all, father and Azula have threatened to end my life dozens of times after that!"

"At the time, I didn't see one," Ursa replied quietly.

"But you are so powerful," Katara suddenly whispered and both Zuko and Ursa looked up. A bitter smile passed over Ursa's face.

"The powers you've heard about in stories, I presume," she said, for the first time referring to her status as the adored Spirit Princess in the Earth Kingdom, "I only developed after my banishment. Yes, I am a firebender, but I wasn't as eager to use it like most benders would and when I got married to Ozai… I thought it better to abandon bending altogether."

For a short moment Katara felt the cruelty and bitterness of fate: her mother who had never been a bender had pretended to be one to save her little daughter's life, while Ursa had to hide the true strength of her bending to protect her children.

"Did father know about… your inheritance?" Katara heard Zuko ask sharply and she looked up to see Ursa hesitate.

"Yes, it would have been impossible to hide that fact. I come from a very influential noble family and our lineage is intertwined with those of the most important houses and the royal family. But I fell in love with Ozai…" she bowed her head when memories of that time washed over her and Katara caught Zuko's bewildered gaze, "and to my utter astonishment Fire Lord Azulon agreed to our marriage."

"To gain control over the Avatar's offspring," Zuko added in a cold tone and his mother nodded sadly.

"I was the last remaining descendant of Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Azulon used his youngest son, who wasn't going to be in any kind of succession with Iroh in the safe possession of a son, to extinguish the possible threat to his reign that could be any of my future children."

A weak smile formed on her lips. "Looking back, he sealed the fall of his own war campaign. Iroh has done a fabulous job pulling the real you out of your violent upbringing."

She carefully reached out and lightly brushed his cheek with her fingers. This time, he didn't pull back. "Over the years Iroh has been so kind to keep me informed about anything that happened to you."

Katara's eyes fixed on Zuko, but he didn't jump up like she expected him to. Instead he looked out the window and sighed.

"Uncle Iroh, didn't he know where you were?" He then asked.

Ursa shook her head. "No, he never has. He tried to find me though and he actually did when I was in one of my hideouts in the Earth Kingdom, but I asked him to stop searching for me. I only wanted to be found by my son and I told him I would wait until he decided the time was ripe for you to come looking for me."

She looked him straight into the eye. "I know what Ozai told you about me. Don't blame your uncle, he knew he had to give you some time to settle into your new role."

A smile once again lit up her face. "And you're doing wonderfully. I'm so proud of you. You are being admired among both the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation peoples for bringing peace and prosperity back to their lands."

Zuko looked away shyly and a smile formed on Katara's lips. Knowing Zuko, he probably would be thinking about all the things that had gone wrong the past two years. Turning towards Ursa, she decided to help him out of his embarrassment. "So, I guess the order is saved now?"

---

"You are dressed Fire Nation, you look Fire Nation, Avatar Roku called you Prince Lu Ten…"

The tall firebender looked down on the small, young woman suddenly walking next to him, her unseeing eyes trained on his face.

The group had silently picked up the travel again, settling into an order in which the Monkey King hopped somewhere up front, followed at a slower pace by Avatar Roku, with Prince Lu Ten following him at a respectful distance. Toph and Aang closed the little procession.

Now, as they walked past endless weeping-willows, their feet sucking into the swampy ground, Toph had quickened her pace and looked up at him expectantly. What she saw was the serious face of a young man, forever in his early twenties, the sideburns making him look slightly older.

"That's right," he replied warily, not knowing what the petite earthbender was aiming for.

She suddenly stood still, a strange emotion momentarily passing over her face. "Is it true then? Are you Uncle Iroh's son?" She asked softly.

The Fire Prince halted too and turned around, a surprised look in his golden eyes. "Uncle?" He slowly repeated. When she didn't react, he nodded curtly. "I am."

"I recognize you," Toph whispered softly. "From the picture Uncle has described for me once."

Lu Ten for a moment didn't react, then took a few swift steps back. "What are you to my father?" His piercing gaze demanded an answer. "You call him Uncle, yet you are not my cousin Azula."

To his surprise the small earthbender started to smile, softening her sturdy expression. "Uncle Iroh is my mentor and substitute parent," she said tenderly. "After my travels with Aang ended, he took me in and let me stay with him in Ba Sing Se. He has taught me the ways of the White Lotus and the art of tea making. He encouraged me to become the best earthbender in the world." She sounded proud, but Prince Lu Ten seemed distracted.

"Ba Sing Se? So he's finally conquered it…," he turned away thoughtfully, a tone of sadness ringing through his warm baritone voice.

"With his tea he has," Toph confirmed smilingly. "The Jasmine Dragon is famous all around Ba Sing Se!"

For a moment Lu Ten only stared at her, his expression closed off in a manner that would have reminded Toph to Zuko, would she have been able to see it. Then a smile suddenly lit up his face.

"I'm glad you're keeping my father company. I see you love him very much. Things have not been easy for him with Zuko, but training the young ones has always been a hobby of him."

---

Princess Ursa took a sip from her tea and looked up, a surprised look in her light-brown eyes. "What do you mean with that?" She carefully put down her cup. "How in the heavens can the Order be saved by finding me?"

Katara's gaze flashed at Zuko, who suddenly looked just as alarmed as she did. He shot up, his hand slipping away from his mother's grasp.

"You're the Avatar's granddaughter!" His voice was shrill as he looked down on his mother. "Uncle said…"

"So, you know about that?" Ursa said softly, her hands folding in her lap, as she craned her neck to look up at her son. "I always thought Iroh would eventually tell you. Then you also know I'm not that important to the Order that finding me would mean her saving."

Katara and Zuko's gazes met in utter bewilderment. "But… But… we thought..." Katara stuttered, but as soon as she said it she knew, it had been a presumption. And if she were honest with herself, she had already felt it the moment they had found Princess Ursa. Having met with the white lotus herself at the South Pole had made her realize that no matter how the Order would be saved, the reaction of the white lotus would be felt immediately.

"What did your uncle actually say about it?" Ursa's gentle voice broke in the painful confusion.

"He said…" Zuko replied with difficulty, as he tried to bring back the actual words. "That it was necessary for us to find you to save the Order of the White Lotus."

A soft laugh escaped Ursa's lips and she shook her head. "That old dragon…"

But Zuko and Katara could only stare at each other as panic mirrored in their widened eyes.

This couldn't be happening. They had been so relieved when they had finally figured out Ursa's whereabouts, finding reassurance in the knowledge that with the completion of their task the Order was saved. They had trusted blindly in Ursa being able to know what was threatening the order and having the ability to end it. Now, with Ursa's amused words the ground disappeared from under their feet. Only a few days were left of their time. A few days and nights before winter would start and here they were, in the Fire Nation palace, anonymously, haunted by vicious nobles… having found Princess Ursa but not a step closer to saving the Order of the White Lotus.

Zuko jumped up and started to pace around, hands in his hair. "No, no! I can't believe this. I'm going to kill Uncle! I swear I will. We only have four days left. What more does he expect from us?!"

He stopped pacing when he reached the doorpost, leaned his head against it and suddenly hit the wood with his fist, his eyes squeezed shut. "This is so messed up!"

"Zuko, don't! They'll hear you!"

Katara had jumped up and rushed for the outraged Fire Lord. In the far corner of the room, a door slightly opened and the Chamberlain's head appeared, only to disappear when Princess Ursa silently shook her head, her eyes then averting to the young people again.

Katara had stopped a few steps away from Zuko, and slowly closed the distance between them, lightly putting her hands on his shoulders. "You need to calm down, Zuko," she said softly, her voice barely more than a whisper in his ear. "I know this isn't what we expected and I'm shocked too, but as limited as it is, there is still time."

She felt his shoulders tremble under her touch. "Maybe there is…" his voice was barely more than a whisper, then he suddenly turned around, stunning Katara with his intense gaze, "but do you know how to proceed from now?"

Katara's hands slowly slid from his shoulders as she let her head hang, glancing dejectedly to the side. Her gaze rested on the hems of Ursa's white dress. No, she hadn't had any clue left. It was as she had said before: they had set out to find Princess Ursa, firmly trusting in saving the Order from whatever doom they were facing, once they had found her.

Now she started to realize that not only did she have any idea on what to do now, but despite those long weeks of travelling, they hadn't had the faintest idea on what disturbance of the balance they needed the White Lotus Society to rescue from.

This truly was infinitely messed up…

___

Time was putting everything into perspective, a small advantage of getting older. The intensity of the youth had made place for a want for peace and quiet and a mild irony. So, Kanna had to smile subconsciously when she saw the form of her son-in-law bowed over the map, determination radiating from his pose, eager to get to the Fire Nation as quickly as possible.

Around him were that stubborn husband of hers, the grim expression on his face surely mirroring Hakoda's, Suki and Sokka, who had laid his arm inconspicuously around her slender waist. With the Fire Nation coming closer, they had discarded the fur lined parkas, wearing only thin woolen cloaks over their silk shirts.

"Within a few days from now we will arrive at Sozin. As the facts are now, we are being followed at some distance by two small scouting ships of the Fire Nation Navy. Whether the Eastern Fleet will intervene when the Gates of Azulon come into sight, we do not know, but we do know that Commander Jee has his eye on us." Hakoda looked up, his blue eyes wary.

"Commander Jee is an excellent soldier. We might not want to do anything that will provoke him," Master Pakku added and Hakoda sighed. "I know. That's what worries me the most."

Kanna slightly turned her head, her old eyes resting upon her grandson, who stared at the map with intensity, a thoughtful look in his eyes. He didn't seem to notice the change of expression on his fiancée's face as she looked up from the map. Determination shone in her deep blue eyes, as the light of the oil lamp cast a reddish glow on her chestnut hair. Her turquoise betrothal necklace sparkled when she started to speak. Kanna smiled approvingly.

"I'll go and make contact with the scouting ships."

Suki's clear voice rang through the small captain's cabin and Sokka's head shot up. "No!"

"Be quiet Sokka," Suki looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "Let me do this."

"No, I will not let you. You are my fiancée! It's far too dangerous!"A warning frown appeared between Sokka's brows, but Suki wasn't impressed.

"You're right Sokka, I am your fiancée," she straightened her back, "but I also am and will remain a Kyoshi Warrior. Please remember that, before you let your personal feelings take the upper hand. From all the people present in this room," for a moment she glanced at Kanna, who nodded slowly. The warrior had noticed her silence presence. "I am the most suitable for the mission: I am young, I have excellent warrior skills and I am acceptable for them because I'm Earth Kingdom."

Sokka bowed his head. "But…"

"Suki's right, Sokka," Hakoda cut in sharply. "She is the most suitable person for this mission. The Fire Nation ships are not far away. They will notice her boat soon enough. Don't think too lightly of her skills, it'll insult her. She can handle this."

Sokka clenched his fists and closed his eyes as his frown deepened and Kanna knew he had to think of the last time he'd lost a girl he loved. Suki seemed to realize that too, because she put a hand on his forearm, a compassionate look in her eyes. She was a sweet girl. Now it was up to Sokka to put his faith in her.

For a moment Sokka didn't move, but then his fists relaxed and he suddenly pulled Suki in a tight hug, whispering something in her ear, Kanna's old ears couldn't decipher.

The old woman caught her husband's look and saw a hint of softness appear in his stern gaze. It was alright. Suki would be going.

---

"Maybe you two need some air." Ursa's melodic voice sounded soft in the heavy silence. To Zuko and Katara it felt like it was only tearing them apart further. Slowly they turned around and watched the princess, who had risen from her seat, approach them in an elegant and dignified way. A new determination in her eyes gave her a stern look.

If only I can be half as beautiful one day, Katara subconsciously thought before she nodded wearily. The walls indeed started to close in on her and she felt she needed space to think.

"I'll have one of my helpers to get you out of the palace unseen and he will stay with you until you have decided what you're going to do: come back and reveal your presence… or not." A small wave of her hand was enough for a handsome young man to step into the light. He respectfully made the bow of the White Lotus to the princess and then to the Fire Lord and his companion, without making a distinction between them.

Zuko seemed to hesitate but a quick glance at Katara, who smiled encouragingly at him, made him nod curtly too.

A small smile lit up Ursa's somewhat melancholic features. "Good. Off you go then. Just remember that whatever decision you make, it will be irrevocable."

"Mom," Zuko's voice, more harsh than ever spoke up. "What do you suggest we do?"

For a moment Ursa let her eyes rest upon her son with a thoughtful expression, then a small giggle escaped her. "Well, I would suggest you go to the top of the crater and try to calm down as you watch the city beneath you. I was told it was my grandfather's favorite hide-out when he was still a young man in the city of Sozin, which of course wasn't called that way back then." She sighed and her gaze turned serious again. "I've never been there, because one can only reach it by dragon, which, of course isn't possible anymore nowadays. But since you have the Avatar's bison to your disposal…"

Two very surprised gazes almost simultaneously turned understanding when Ursa's helper softly cleared his throat. "If we want to leave we have to do it now, Your Majesty," he said, his eyes glistening. "Everyone will be returning for dinner within the hour and the palace will be much more crowded."

Zuko nodded and turned around, only to freeze and suddenly walk back to his mother with two long strides, pulling her in a tight hug. Her surprised gaze softened immediately and she buried her hand into his thick, silky strands.

"What will you do?" He asked, his voice muffled in her shoulder.

She sighed and caressed his hair. "Don't worry about me, Zuko. If you decide not to come back, then I'll wait for your return. My vassals and your Chamberlain will help me until you're back."

"You could go to Piandao's," Zuko suggested but his mother shook her head. "I'm not leaving my daughter anymore. She needs me here. The White Lotus Society will keep me hidden, like she has done for the past eight years."

Zuko stepped back, intently watching his mother's face heaved up at him. She smiled encouragingly and squeezed his hand. "Go."

When he turned around a small, cool hand slid into his and the familiar scent of water lilies calmed him down almost immediately, like Katara's presence always did.

Ursa's vassal made another curt bow to his princess and walked past Zuko and Katara quickly, motioning him to follow him through a door hidden in the wall. But before the travelers disappeared Ursa's soft voice called them back. "One thing… During the time you were seeking to find me… what were the moments that really mattered? And then ask yourself… if they really did involve me…"

***

Night had fallen over the capital city of Sozin and only the small lights of the houses far beneath them kept the travelers from being engulfed completely by darkness. A small breeze played through their hair, made their cloaks billow and in the distance a soft rumbling sound disturbed the otherwise peaceful silence of the night. The endless zenith stretched out above them, from their high placed position almost there for them to reach, only to look farther away than ever.

"It's a small volcano," Zuko told Katara without turning around, feeling her react to the sound and feeling. "It's been active since the end of the war, but it's not dangerous. The valley below isn't inhabited."

Katara inhaled deeply and closed her eyes as she let her breath escape slowly. The fresh air did her well and she felt her thoughts clear for the first time since they had finally found Zuko's mother. A moment which had been as bitter as it had been sweet. Still… she felt a small hint of gratitude toward, well, the situation, finding herself standing next to Zuko again, with a continuation of their journey within their grasp. It felt as if Princess Ursa had seen through their happiness about having found her and had offered them a chance to try and find a way to truly save the Order of the White Lotus.

"You think it's true that the Order isn't saved by us finding your mother?" She asked, feeling the silent presence of the young noble who was Ursa's vassal behind them. He was discreetly giving all of his attention to Appa, who rumbled contently each time he heard the volcano, but Katara knew he heard everything and he was on his guard. Because, after all, that was what his princess had told him.

But as she stood there, with her eyes closed, it suddenly hit Katara that maybe Princess Ursa wasn't the only reason he was protecting them right now. They were members of the Order themselves, important members who had seen the white lotus and thus they were protected by the soldiers of the Grandmaster.

There was a short silence before Zuko answered. "Yes, I think so. My mother has no reason to lie about that. My uncle however…"

Katara turned around and saw him frown dangerously as he with a darkened gaze looked out over the city, his city.

"Your uncle hasn't lied to us Zuko…. I think…" she hesitated. "I think he wanted to provide us with a reason to accept his request."

"No, it was more than that." His gaze, still fixed on the city below, had turned thoughtful. "He really believed that I needed to search for my mother in order to help him save the White Lotus Society. Her fate is entwined with the Order. And I don't know if I could have found her, had I not become a member of the Order and… had I not been with you." He turned around and Katara's gaze was caught by a pair of smoldering golden eyes looking at her intently. "But where does that leave us now?"

Her heart skipped a beat, as she heard the silent question underneath his words. "Well, we still haven't saved the Order yet, so…" Zuko had to bow forward to hear her whisper dying away and she suddenly felt his warmth surrounding her, and she had to use all of her willpower to not simply lean into him and close her eyes. Instead she lifted a hand and tucked away a loose strand of his ink black hair, reveling over the smooth structure of his good ear. He had become motionless the moment she had touched him, careful not to let a movement make her pull away from caressing him, her hand lingering in his hair.

"I think your mother is right," she said softly. "Throughout the past six weeks we've been driven by the urge to find your mother, but the most important things that happened to us during that time hadn't had anything to do with her."

She was silent, her blue eyes asking him to remember.

"The southern lights…" Zuko then whispered.

"… Kyoshi Island," Katara replied.

"The white lotus..."

"… my assignment." Katara's eyes widened and stepped back, reaching for the paper in her cloak, but on an impulse Zuko grabbed her hands, cherishing the feeling of her cool, soft skin. Refreshing, like water. "Don't, you already know it by heart. We have to decide first… are we going back… or not?"

The moment he had grabbed her hands, Zuko had almost completely closed the small distance left between them and as their fingers on their own accord laced themselves through each other, the earth seemed to slow down, then stopped altogether.

Behind them, another pair of golden eyes looked at them intently as they formed their decision.

Zuko felt his heart quicken as the heavy weight of the choice he was standing for took a iron hold on his stomach.

He was only two words away from heading back to the palace, taking government into his own hands again. He could get rid of those rebelling nobles. There would be no sneaking around anymore and he could triumphantly announce his mother's safe return to the Fire Nation, lifting the burden of banishment from her shoulders forever. Or...

He could stick to his promise to his uncle to save the Order of the White Lotus by trying to find the key to save it. Behind him the volcano's rumbling intensified. An eruption was about to get started.

Zuko stared down on the face of the young woman who had been with him all those weeks in which he had searched for his mother. Those glistening blue eyes, a sad expression in them, set in tan features and framed by those soft curls. Carefully he freed one of his hands from her hold and laced his fingers through the dark brown strands, feeling his heart jolt painfully as he did so. Only a few hours ago he had said goodbye to all of the good memories of their journey, the feelings he had developed for her during that time, any silent hopes he had cherished for a possible future.

Now, he had been presented with an opportunity to extend his journey with Katara, despite it only being for a few days. To be able to take in her fresh scent as she sat next to him on Appa's head, to be able to hold her while falling asleep at some spirits' forsaken place, to feel the softness of her lips upon his one last time… A deep longing filled his heart.

It was a heavy choice and he had to make it now. He lowered his hand and averted his eyes, looking down on the city.

Katara watched him turning away his head and sadness wrenched her heart. Of course he would prefer to return to his capital now he was so close. He would want to stay close to his mother, after having missed her for so many years. He would want to settle his score with the rebelling nobles. It was clear the Prime-Minister needed him. What did she have to offer to him? A few days more of devastating insecurity, only to find there was no other way to try and save the Order.

A silent tear started to run down her cheek as she watched him. The bad side of his face was turned towards her, glowing silvery in the pale moonlight. Despite his eye being half shut, she saw the torn expression in his glistening, golden gaze. Would she never been able to touch that face again?

To never again see his face relaxing when her fingers caressed the rough skin underneath?

Subconsciously she lifted her hand and Zuko turned around, for a moment looking at her intently, then closing his eyes.

It was then Katara remembered. Her hand froze in mid air as her eyes widened in shock. "The Spirit Oasis…" she whispered.

Zuko's eyes fluttered open immediately. "What?" Had he only imagined her words? She had mentioned the Spirit Oasis before, but only

"We have to go to the Spirit Oasis," Katara repeated breathlessly. The look she met with had never been so expectant… and hopeful before.

"Do you mean, we have to go to the North Pole?" There was a new determination in his voice.

Katara could only nod, her heart making a hopeful jolt. Could he mean…?

"There's a pond in the Spirit Oasis," he then said slowly, digging up his memory of the North Pole's most sacred place, as Katara watched his face intently. "With two Koi fish in it."

"Tui and La," Katara nodded, the blood pounding in her ears.

Then, after a small moment, a smile spread across his face. "You sure we can find out how to save the Order over there?"

Katara for a moment only looked at him, then shook her head as, she too, smiled. "No."

The next moment she felt herself pulled into his chest, as he wrapped his arms around her and he closed the last distance between them, as the light of the volcano erupting behind them framed their dark silhouettes against the burning sky.

___

The palace seemed almost abandoned as she walked up the stairs to the main entrance. The guards let her pass unhindered.

With quiet footsteps she continued her path through large, empty hallways, the echoes the only witness of her presence. Sometimes she passed a guard, who were placed at strategic spots within the labyrinth of corridors. They would incline their heads to her when she walked by. Nobody paid attention to the upset look in her cold, grey eyes, accustomed as they were to her usual somber expression.

The young woman rounded another corner and suddenly came eye to eye with the gigantic picture of the latest Fire Lord in the Portrait Gallery. She flinched and froze, looking up at the stilled face, gently looking down on her. Her eyes narrowed and between the folds of her robes, her hands clenched the razor sharp senbon knives she hid there. Then she abruptly turned around and continued on her way, cursing the moment when that admiral had stepped by her parental home, politely asking her father to speak with her. She could sense the triumphant smile behind his seemingly worried attitude as he on hushed tones informed her of Zuko's return to the Fire Nation and she had caught a glimpse of his glistening eyes when he mentioned… that. Her face had turned ashen as her eyes widened in shock.

Mai still didn't know how it was that Ty Lee suddenly had been in the room, politely but with a warning undertone asking the man to leave. She could have sworn she had agreed to talk with him in private.

But she was glad for Ty Lee's interference as she desperately tried to remain dignified. Her years of experience in hiding her real feelings behind the stone cold mask, now quite came in handy.

"Of course," the admiral had mumbled as he bowed his head in respect for the two young noble women. "Forgive the intrusion."

The door had been softly closed behind him.

***

The young woman took a seat, her long robes rustling. For a moment she looked at the hands of the sleeping girl lying by her side, then carefully folded her own hands into her lap. She bowed her head.

"Today some admiral stepped by at my parents' house, saying he wanted to talk to me about Zuko." For a moment she was quiet. "He betrayed me, Azula," she then said on a bitter voice. "Ty Lee says I don't know for sure, but I feel it. I've felt it from the moment he disappeared suddenly, in Omashu. Your brilliant brother has betrayed me."

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Agni damn it, Azula. You've always known about the soft spot in my heart for him. Why had you also have to take advantage of that too?" A choked sob escaped the young woman at the bed. "Why did I let you set him up with me?"

"You thought you knew him, right?" A soft, motherly voice suddenly spoke up from behind her. The young woman froze. "The little boy you grew up with, who clumsily saved you from his sister's taunting. The shy boy who was always seeking his father's approval, the perfect example of loyalty to the Fire Nation…" the voice was silent for a moment. "When did you start to realize he had changed?" It then asked.

Mai clenched her fists. "I didn't. He hasn't changed. Despite the scar, he still is the Zuko I grew up with."

"Oh come on, Mai. You're better than this," the voice replied softly, a reproachful edge to it.

The young woman bowed her head, not being able to turn around, as tears started to fall down her cheeks again, feeling the words cut deep into her heart. In the bed Azula sighed and her eyelids fluttered.

"I… I think… I must have known the moment he returned to the Fire Nation with us, after Azula had defeated the Avatar in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se. He… he started to ramble about… things, bothering him. That wasn't like him."

"You're wrong about that. Zuko has always been the worrying kind. But he has changed in a way that he now tries to talk about his insecurities, rather than push them away. She has done that for him."

Mai's head shot up, a fierce look in her teary ears. "Katara." She almost spit out the name, then spun around, but the door behind her had closed with a soft click.

"Mama," Azula whispered softly and sighed again.

---

**A/N:** _Thank you all who have reviewed last chapter. I am so sorry for having made you so sad about Zuko and Katara's future. I feel really bad and at the same time I'm very glad that it worked. They had to go through that despair to reach the chapter you've just read: the chapter in which they are offered an escape. Because, as Kaydreams said it: how was finding Ursa going to save the Order? Well, this chapter gives the answer: it doesn't. And Zuko and Katara are starting to realize this too. Katara's remark is very important in this respect: they have to go probably the most holy place on earth for the White Lotus Society to be saved. Will Zuko and Katara finally get the meaning behind Iroh's riddle?_

_I would like to thank Lazyguy90 for the quick and always encouraging reviews I receive almost immediately after an update. It's greatly appreciated. I also want to thank Fire Storm Weaver for her lenghtly review and the link to the picture of Fire Lord Zuko on dA. I faved it, it's very beautiful, though I'm honored you liked my description too. I'm also glad that you all liked how Ursa was introduced and I hope last chapter answered a few of Tfobmv18's questions. And I'm also very glad some of you commented on the spacings of the paragraphs. I'm glad it's an improvement. I soon as I find time I will change all chapters (I've come to chapter 7 by now)._

_This chapter is sort of a bridge. Ursa's being found, but many problems have been left unsolved: the nobles, the Water Tribe coming for the Fire Nation, Toph and Aang in the Spirit World, the saving of the Order and of course Zuko and Katara's love for each other. But their decision to go to the North Pole will set everything in motion for all of it coming together in a fantastic finale._

_The music this time is not from any movie or symphonic rockband but from... a videogame. Yes, you read it correctly. My boyfriend has bought a Playstation 3 (to go with our new HD-TV) and one of the games he bought with it was Valkyria Chronicles. It's fantastic to see, the watercolor manga drawings and especially the music. _

_Last two weeks I've become totally addicted to True Blood. Brilliant series, actors, surroundings and music. The series is about a telepathic waitress in a small town in Louisiana who gets involved (romantically with Bill in the first season) with vampires two years after they 'came out of the coffin' when Japanese scientists created perfect artifcial blood for the vampires to not hunt for humans anymore. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely try it. The series is based upon a book series called The Southern Vampire Mysteries, but I haven't read the books and I'm not going to until the show is over, so I don't get spoiled (or involved in discussions whether to ship Team Eric based upon the books). Is there any of you who follow the series too?_

_Thanks for reading and be sure to read the next chapter!_


	42. United Nations

After the longest time absent ever, for which I apologize deeply, here's another chapter of Fall of the White Lotus, called United Nations.

As I can understand it's difficult keeping track of all the storylines in one time, especially when there's considerable time between the chapters with updating, here's a summary of the previous events:

_As Zuko and Katara found the final indications of where to find Ursa, Toph and Aang go into the Spirit World to follow the horrible dreams the spirits are sending them. Aang especially fears for Toph's life because of a constantly returning dream that dates from the times when Team Avatar was trying to defeat Fire Lord Ozai, in which he sees Toph with no eyes at all.__ In the Spirit World they have to find the reason for that dreams and they get help from a group of spirits dwelling in that realm: Avatar Roku, Prince Lu Ten of the Fire Nation and the irritating Monkey King which Aang has met before during his visits to the Spirit World. Together, they form a band of travelers which is inspired on the Journey to the West, an ancient Asian story._

_While Zuko and Katara have defeated Weiting, the leader of Senlin Harbor, he has left them some difficulties to cope with. At first, he has sent a letter to the Southern Water Tribe, which caused the Chief to sail off for the Fire Nation immediately. He and Sokka are very worried somehow about Katara, and that seems to have to do something with Zuko. After picking up Suki from Kyoshi Island, they have now almost reached the Fire Nation waters. Weiting also had contact with the rebelling nobles in the __Fire Nation. The capture of Zuko and Katara in Senlin Harbor made them more secure about their cause than ever before, so they sent Chan and Ruon-Jian, the beach boys we know from Ember Island, to break into the Fire Lord's summer vacation house in search for something that isn't revealed. Unfortunately, Zuko and Katara ran into to them, while staying at Ember Island in search for Zuko's mother and while Zuko let them go with a errand of his own, it's not completely sure he has won back their loyalty completely: when they return to the capital city of Sozin, Chan and Ruon-Jian immediately inform Admiral Chan, Chan's father and one of the leader of the rebelling nobles, from their encounter with the Fire Lord and tell him that the Fire Lord seems to be in love with the Water Princess._

_As Zuko and Katara find Princess Ursa, they silently mourn the end of their journey, until __they find out that finding Ursa isn't what's going to save the Order of the White Lotus and with only a few days ahead before winter starts, Ursa lets them think about the following steps and the choice they have to make: to stay and make their presence known as they had wanted to do after finding her, or continue their journey and try to find out how to save the Order in another way. _

_The riddle Katara carries still hasn't been solved._

_After some deliberation they realize that this gives them some more time to spend together and being members of the Order now, they feel the heavy responsibility of saving the Society. With Katara realizing that the answer could be found at the North Pole, where the Spirit Oasis is located, they decide to head for the North Pole._

_A couple of my dear readers have pointed out that the North Pole isn't that close to the Fire Nation that it's possible for them to reach the Spirit Oasis and save the Order in less than two days. They were absolutely right. Appa is fast, but he isn't that fast. After studying the map of the Avatar World again, I changed the number of days left before the winter would start, into five. Thank you all very much for noticing!_

_And now, on with the story:_

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 41: United Nations**

Music: Kenji Kawai, A Mysterious Door/ The Netherworld (Folklore)

The gentle waves of the cold, depthless ocean sparkled softly in the pale light of the full moon as a small boat approached the grim, steel scout ship, its tiny shadow disappearing behind the much larger shadow of the silent war ship.

The person in the small vessel, merely a lifeboat, looked up, her blue eyes gleaming in the darkness. There appeared to be no sign of response from the steel ship, when suddenly a large light flashed up and the young woman crumbled down, shielding her eyes with her arm when her little boat was held captive in the merciless beam. Voices started to sound from high above and a bearded soldier, his red outfit in the darkness faded to an indistinct grey, bowed over the railing.

"This is the HMS Seahawk from the Fire Nation Eastern Fleet. Who are you and what are you doing down there?"

The small figure in the boat moved a little and seemed to say something. The soldier narrowed his eyes and bowed down further. "What?"

The person moved up her arm a little. "Take away that light! You're blinding me!" An irritated voice yelled back.

The man looked taken aback and signaled for the signpost to slightly turn away the bundle of light and watched as the young woman in the boat sat upright.

"I am the Kyoshi Warrior Suki and I come with word from Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe, whose ship you have been following for the past week. We have to talk."

---

Uncle Iroh sat motionless before his window and watched as dark clouds packed together above the grand city of Ba Sing Se.

Winter would arrive in only less than a week and his dark green robes were laced with fur against the cold. It was quiet in his house, a quiet he wasn't yet accustomed to but was necessary to the greater cause. Since Aang and Toph had traveled to the Spirit World, Iroh had asked his manservant to take a couple of days off and guarded the room where their lifeless bodies were, with all his might. In his early morning meditations he had silently asked the spirit of his deceased son to find and watch over his dear pupils. He hoped that would be enough. For all the rest, they had traveled beyond his perspective.

Uncle Iroh cast a glance at the tray of empty dishes before him.

Thank Agni for that kind, older lady from next door who brought him some food every day. She was a bit nosy and he was under the impression she had a bit of a crush on him when she scrutinized him with her intelligent, green eyes, but all of that wasn't important now. His world had shrunken back to only one task: to save the Order of the White Lotus. The Society which united all four nations under the pure, white lotus, remembering them of the similarities rather than the differences between them. The Order which had to be saved by two new members who represented, or could represent all that the White Lotus Society stood for. And the Grandmaster had sent them on a risky and uncertain journey to save that very Society.

As Uncle Iroh for a moment closed his eyes, he sighed, the breath forming steam on the window. He hadn't had much sleep since he had read the letter from Aunt Wu. After securing the safety of Aang and Toph's bodies he had needed to calm his shaken nerves with some tea.

The old fortuneteller had presented him with the most shocking insight in the future he had read so far. The unity of the nations hung by a thread. As his face had turned ashen, his hands had clenched into the scroll, his eyes returning to that one character over and over again.

When he had asked, no ordered the two youngsters to go on their quest, he had known and felt that the Order of the White Lotus Society was in danger, but the Grandmaster had accepted that the spirits for the moment had told him only limited information about the exact cause. Now he knew all. And he felt, not for the first time in his life, the burden of that fact. There was no gladness, only more worries.

For the first time the Grandmaster cursed the fact that he had gone back to Ba Sing Se and hadn't followed the youngsters on their quest. He had chosen to remain at safe distance and let them handle things on their own, but like the beginning of fall, when he had received Aunt Wu's first insight, Uncle Iroh felt compelled to act.

Barely an hour later he stood on the boulevard as the searing cold cut into his old skin and put his hastily written letter into the leather box. As the messenger hawk flew away, Uncle Iroh pulled his billowing cloak more tightly around him and with bowed back shuffled back to his house, all the while praying to the spirits that the bird would find Zuko before it was too late.

---

With a happy smile on his face Zuko turned around and watched Katara as she neatly climbed onto Appa's back. His mother's vassal silently awaited his turn, then climbed on the giant bison as well. They would drop him off on one of the outer squares in the city of Sozin.

Zuko felt like his heart could burst from his chest every moment, reveling in the joy of having a few more days with Katara while going to the North Pole to visit the Spirit Oasis. He felt an enormous gratitude towards his mother for her understanding and silent persuasion. The fluttering in his stomach numbed a bit of the nervousness also present in there, the insecurity about the future of his uncle's Order. Their Order. But there was still a bit of time so Zuko smiled when he felt Katara's arm wrap around his waist as he took up Appa's reins.

At that moment Zuko's sharp gaze caught the small movement on the dark horizon and he narrowed his eyes. His hands let go of the reins.

"Your Majesty…" the vassal began, but Zuko heaved his hand and the young nobleman fell silent as Katara sat up straight. "A messenger hawk," she whispered in surprise. "And he's heading for us."

Zuko nodded mutely, a concerned expression on his face. The bird carried a black ribbon, meaning that the message he had on him was solely meant for the Fire Lord.

The bird landed carefully on Zuko's extended arm and with a fluent movement Zuko pulled the letter from his claw. A red seal with a white ribbon secured the scroll, as he had expected. A letter from his uncle.

Quickly he opened the letter and started to read. Then Katara saw his face turn ashen.

"They're after the egg," he whispered blankly as he felt his stomach turn into a lump of ice. Slowly the horrifying news started to started to sink in. How the rebelling nobles would have come to know about the secret temple of the Warriors of the Sun he couldn't fathom, but Uncle Iroh's letter let no question about it: they had discovered its existence and were planning to steal the most precious object in the entire temple, perhaps in his whole empire. The egg of the two dragons.

He now knew what Ruon-Jian and Chan were looking for in his beach house; information on how to reach the egg and steal it, without getting caught and killed. The nobles must have searched the entire palace, even long before he even went on this journey with Katara, and clearly having found nothing, sent their sons to Ember Island. His breathing started to quicken.

When Aang and he had visited the temple looking to strengthen their firebending, they had come across that mysterious glowing object. It had been lonely, but reverently placed on the pedestal in the middle of the room where they had learned the moves of the Dancing Dragon. When Zuko, despite Aang's warnings had complied to the urge to touch the object, he had found it had felt much… alive. Zuko was glad he didn't listen to Aang that day. Although it had brought them in the most uncomfortable position ever, it had also caused him to understand the true nature of the object after meeting with the two dragons, Ran and Shao. After his realization he had silently sworn to protect the precious life growing in there.

Now, as he lowered the letter in shock, he finally understood. He understood it all. If the nobles would succeed in their plans, then not only would they regain enormous powers to cause the fall of his own house, but more importantly, it would cause the doom of the Order of the White Lotus. The baby dragon in the egg was the sole hope for the species of dragons to escape from extinction, their numbers having been diminished after Fire Lord Sozin had declared hunting dragons, who had taught the firebenders their bending, the highest form of sports.

The nation of the Air Nomads had already been wiped out, but for one sole survivor. How much more could the balance handle?

As she had watched him reading the letter in silence, Katara had seen Zuko's demeanor change and with a worried feeling she asked on a soft tone: "What is it Zuko?"

"Do you remember on Ember Island what I told you about it before?" Zuko asked grimly and Katara nodded. "It's an egg."

"Not just an egg." A pained expression appeared in Zuko's eyes. "It's the most precious egg there is, being the offspring of the one species Uncle Iroh has sworn to protect after he had seen them and which I swore after him." A little melancholy had crept into his voice.

"The dragons of the Sun Warrior's temple," Katara finished in shock, as realization dawned to her as well. "Oh dear La…"

"The baby dragon in that egg is in severe danger. The rebelling nobles are after the egg because the powers a dragon possesses, when controlled by a firebender, can create the fall of the royal family." He shook his head violently. "The idiots! They don't care what they are messing with."

He looked Katara right in the eye. "The egg has to be kept out of their hands…" Zuko was silent for a moment. "Or the White Lotus Society will face its doom."

Katara stood motionless. "Admiral Zhao," she then whispered as her eyes widened in understanding.

"What?" Confusion appeared in Zuko's eyes. "What about him?"

"My spirits, Zuko. Don't you know anymore how he came to his end?" She pulled her cloak more tightly around her as her blue eyes looked at him from under her eyelids, with a watchful gaze.

"Of course!" He would never forget how the ocean spirit had grabbed the crazed general. It sometimes haunted him in his dreams. Then his eyes widened. "Uncle… he restored the balance with the Koi fish."

Katara nodded grimly. "After Admiral Zhao had killed the moon spirit, Princess Yue gave her life to take his place. The outraged ocean spirit took possession of Aang's body and used him to wipe out the entire Fire Nation fleet."

Zuko remembered.

"This situation, however, is potentially far more dangerous," Katara continued as she looked down on the city below them. Little lights created a fairylike atmosphere, the walls of the volcano mysteriously framing the dark skyline. "Back then it was only Admiral Zhao and his madness. Now, there are many and Iroh is not with us to prevent them from what they are about to do, or heal it when it has happened."

She took the reins and bowed her head, as her knuckles turned white. Zuko could see she hated what she was about to say and he dreaded it too.

"We have to split up. After this it's even more clear that I have to go to the Spirit Oasis…" Her voice faded and she turned around to look at him.

"I know." Her deep blue eyes were boring into his as he responded quietly. He slowly lifted his hand and cupped her face. For a moment she kept staring at him with that fierce gaze, then she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"I'll try to catch up with you as soon as possible. Even if I have to mobilize the entire Fire Navy, I will come to the North Pole," he said tenderly.

"Don't be late," she whispered.

Hesitantly he put his hands on Katara's shoulders and before he knew it, she had slid her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. With a silent sigh he closed his eyes and for a moment stroked her soft curls. "I won't. I promise," he whispered, not knowing how to keep that promise but determined to find a way, before pushing a slow kiss on the top of her head. "Now go. We have a Society to save."

He received a watery smile and a determined nod.

A few moments later, he and his mother's vassal were dropped near the main square where he watched with clenched fists and through a blurry gaze as the silhouette of the large bison with Katara on it, disappeared in the midnight sky. When he turned around his face was grim. "This time the nobles have pushed me too far. It's time to put an end to their cause once and for all."

---

The main square before the palace was a very large, impressive place, but Zuko knew it well enough as his mother's gardens. That's why he almost immediately ducked away when he turned around. He felt the vassal doing the same thing behind him. Two pairs of slanted golden eyes watched from the darkness as tow tiny figures stealthily crossed the square and halted before one of the walls protecting his palace from the outside world where Zuko knew a small gate to be. The figures wore the uniforms of very high seated officers. Admiral Chan and General Bujing.

At that moment a rustling sound could be heard from inside the palace walls and the small gate opened. A lithe figure clad in long, loose robes emerged from the shadows and Zuko sharply sucked in his breath, when he recognized the somber expression on the noble daughter's face. He clenched his fists as his lips pursed together in a bitter line. And he remembered: Mai knew about the egg.

Being the ruler of an entire county was a position very lonely when standing alone and writing to his uncle lifted some of the weight Zuko carried from his shoulders. About a year ago he had written a letter to his uncle after a short visit to the Sun Warrior's temple to tell him about the egg's progress. He had forgotten that the letter was still on his writing desk when he was called away suddenly… Mai found the letter.

She had been angry for not being confided in and Zuko remembered that she hadn't even been that interested in the egg. All she had wanted to know… was if he had told Katara. His silence had told her everything she had wanted to know. He would have, if it had been possible.

Apparently Mai had not forgotten about the incident, nor had she forgotten about the egg. And of course the nobles had approached her when the Prime-Minister appeared to be not impressed by their visit. Zuko clenched his fists.

"It's no more than I deserve," he mumbled to himself, forcing himself to look at Mai, emerging from the darkness. He didn't notice the look of compassion his mother's vassal gave him.

The two men didn't seem too happy when Mai resolutely shook her head but didn't dare to object when she suddenly presented a gleaming senbon underneath their noses. Carefully she closed the gate behind her and followed the men until they were swallowed by darkness.

---

Aang found that the long, quiet journey through the Spirit World with his companions, started to calm his nervous senses and with a tender gaze he looked at Toph's back as she was in an animated conversation with Lu Ten about his father's tea habits. The Fire Prince had a thoughtful and somewhat solemn demeanor but when he laughed, the warmth of his smile remembered Aang to Iroh, who was waiting for them to come back safely.

Aang looked around. They never encountered another spirit dwelling in this realm, while Aang was pretty sure the place must be crowded with them. Somehow there were mysterious forces at work to keep them from… what? What were the powerful spirits planning on doing with him and Toph now that they were in their realm? The dreams had vanished but had been replaced by a monotonous journey that neither seemed to have an end nor an aim. He had seen the Monkey King and Roku talk about the paths to choose and the roads to be taken and somehow he had the idea that, although they told him they didn't know where their journey was taking them, in fact it was quite the opposite: they did know where they were taking them, but they chose to hide it from him.

Aang found that it didn't bothered him as much as he expected, subconsciously welcoming the peaceful times of this journey in comparison to the frightening dreams he had when he was still in Ba Sing Se. Sometimes he thought he saw Katara through one of the golden clouds veiling the sky for eternity. She seemed worried, but happy at the same time as her large blue eyes looked past him, searching for a person only she could see, then disappeared again.

He noticed that the fluttering of his heart at her sight started to wane and that he merely noted her presence in the outside world. Instead, those views only urged him to hasten his step and take Toph's pale hand in his, longing for the quiet smile forming on her lips when she sensed his presence, looking up at him playfully through a frame of billowing black bangs.

As evening never fell and night never came to the Spirit World the small group of wanderers slowly proceeded on their journey through the endless muddy daylight.

Despite the Spirit World not having any progression of time, the travelers held onto some sort of

travelling rhythm. Most of time Avatar Roku, who walked up front, would decided to call it a day and immediately the group would look at Prince Lu Ten whose watchful eyes always found a suitable place to sit down.

It wasn't clear who started the tradition, but as the Monkey King would sit down somewhat apart to meditate, the small group had developed the habit to tell each other stories from their lives. Secretly Aang cherished that time of the day when Toph would sit down between his legs, resting her back against his chest. Sometimes they listened quietly to the sonorous voice of Lu Ten or Roku, sometimes they told a story themselves.

One time the Monkey King came down from his high position in a twisted tree to sit down next to Roku, an arrogant expression on his face and declared that he would tell them one, but only one story of his life.

Aang quietly smiled in Toph's hair. Earlier that day he had seen Roku speaking to the monkey and an order from the Avatar is not to be taken lightly.

The Monkey King with a mysterious gaze put his staff on his knees and looked around the small the circle. His staff somewhat resembled Aang's old glider.

"Now have I ever told you…" he started and for the next hour he took his quiet listeners back to ancient times when the earth was still young and the Monkey King himself wasn't part of the Spirit World yet, but a powerful and fearsome demon on earth. He told about how he traveled into the oceans, in search of a weapon worthy of himself, to acquire the Golden-banded fighting staff Ruyi Jingu Bang, which belonged to the dragon-king of the Eastern Seas and could change size, multiply itself, and fight according to the whim of its master. A small smile played around his lips when he stroked the staff and cast a quick glance at the Fire Prince who sat motionless next to him. "Isn't it strange, Lu Ten, Prince of the Dragon Throne, how I constantly seem to defy your kind?"

"That's true," Lu Ten calmly humored him, "and that's what I'm here for. My father in one of his meditations has asked me to guide Avatar Aang and Lady Toph Bei Fong on their journey to the west and keep an eye on you."

Aang's eyes widened and Toph too sat up straight. He instantly missed the feeling of her warm body leaning against his. "Uncle did that?"

With a displeased grumble the Monkey King sat back as Lu Ten nodded once, his gaze for a moment crossing Roku's.

"We will rest a few more minutes before taking off again," the old Avatar said and slowly Toph leaned back against Aang. She closed her eyes, although she wasn't tired. In the Spirit World weariness was an unknown condition.

"Now what I find interesting is that the dragon-kings and princes are constantly linked to the great oceans," she said lazily. Aang looked up at Lu Ten who let his watchful gaze rest on the petite earthbender, an expression of appreciation in his eyes.

"That's exactly what I find interesting too," he calmly replied and assumed a position of meditation, leaving Aang in confusion.

---

"What are you going to do, Your Majesty?" The vassal asked quietly as they stared after the three figures disappearing in the dark night.

Zuko didn't reply immediately, as he weighed several options, hesitating between going inside the palace and make a plan to cut the nobles' plans off or going after the nobles and Mai. A feeling of hopelessness started to creep into his thoughts as his eyes wandered over the gigantic square. Before him a changing of the guard took place.

The disappointment of having to let go of Katara, which had been subdued until this moment, with a painful sting shot in all its strength through his stomach and he let his head hang. What to do? The rebels must have been planning this even before they had the chance of taking captive the Fire Lord in Senlin Harbor and even Mai appeared to be involved. There was so little time left and it seemed nearly impossible for him to keep his promise and arrive at the North Pole on time.

"Can I suggest… that you will follow those nobles, while I warn His Majesty's mother?"

Surprised Zuko looked up and his gaze caught the faithful golden eyes, patiently awaiting his answer. Suddenly he felt an enormous wave of gratitude washing over him, as he realized that he wasn't alone in this. Not anymore. With his mother present in Sozin, a group of nine of the most trustworthy, elite soldiers of the Order had assembled around him, who knew about and supported him in his quest. A small smile lit up his serious expression.

"That would be a good idea," he nodded. "And be sure to inform the Lord Chamberlain and the Prime-Minister too. It's time the Council of Ministers knows about my return to the Fire Nation and they have to ready themselves for a possible move of the rebels."

The vassal flashed him an approving smile and Zuko lightly put his hand on the young man's forearm. A beam of light gleamed in the golden lotus clasp. "Go now and warn our sister."

For a moment the vassal's golden eyes widened when Zuko used the expression of the Order for his mother. Then he bowed with his hands turned upward. "The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secret," he mumbled and disappeared into the night.

---

"Fly as fast as you can," Katara whispered to Appa as she brought her mouth to his ear. The bison grumbled softly in response and gained some more speed. He felt the urge of the situation and wanted nothing more than to help Katara, feeling that somehow his master's future was intertwined with her quest.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head against the small flakes of snow cutting deep into the soft skin underneath his fur.

On his head, Katara ducked into her cloak, which didn't provide her with enough warmth for the trip ahead of her. She pushed aside the small voice in her head warning her for the danger of her plans, knowing there wasn't any option left. She would need nearly all the time there was left to reach the North Pole alone. How Zuko ever was going to make it on time, she chose to ignore for the time being.

To reach the North Pole Appa and Katara had to cross the northwestern part of the Earth Kingdom. As the plains passed by at high speed underneath them, Katara could see the high mountains of the Western Air Temple's realm. The mountaintops were veiled by permanent clouds.

After a moment she averted her eyes, closing them. So many memories lay in that temple. It was then and there that Zuko for the first time had showed her the almost unlimited patience he possessed when it came to her and the mysterious force driving him to please the one person who considered him her greatest enemy in the world. The thought of him made her heart wrench. She missed the feeling of his hand in hers, his shoulder to lean onto, the golden eyes looking at her with a gaze of infinite devotion. After so many weeks of travelling together, she couldn't remember the times when he hadn't been around her constantly, watching over her but leaning on her as well. How on earth could she have been thinking that their paths could separate after they had saved the Order? She could barely make the trip to the North Pole, without feeling like a ruthless spirit had torn her true love from her forever.

She squeezed her eyes shut and a lonely tear escaped from her eyes, freezing to her ashen cheek.

***

As the sun went down and a full moon rose for the second time, Katara couldn't feel her limps anymore, her thoughts having been dulled to only one thought: to cling to the bison's fur as the North Pole drew nearer and nearer. It felt like she had been sitting on the bison for weeks, as they flew toward the North Pole as fast as Appa could, cramped in the same position she had assumed the last time when she had halted to eat something. Katara's eyes slowly started to fall shut, exhausted as she were from the hunger and the cold. Only the thought of the Order and a pair of golden eyes, vaguely, but always present in the back of her head, kept her from falling of the bison and into the icy northern seas.

The sun was setting again and the world was bathing in a grayish light, when Appa suddenly grumbled softly. Katara forced herself to open her heavy eyelids, then her eyes widened. A leaden sky had formed before them and they were flying right into it. The snow had stopped falling and the icy wind had disappeared. Katara swallowed painfully. "No," she whispered hoarsely.

Then the blizzard was all around them and she lost conscience.

---

"What have we here?" The tan-skinned man, clad in dark blue, put aside his spear and kneeled into the soft snow. A body lay sprawled in the snow, covered by a soaked, dark red cloak. "This Fire Nation broad has been pretty lost." The second man laughed curtly. The Northern Water Tribe hadn't forgotten about the war yet.

Carefully the man rolled the small figure back and sucked in his breath in shock. Then his colleague ran away, yelling that he saw a strange, white-furred hill of snow.

Little snowflakes started to fall from the light-grey sky.

---

**A/N:** _I am very glad that after all this time, I've been able to update a new installment of Fall of the White Lotus. Thank you very much for reading. After returning from my holiday I've had some difficulties writing down this chapter, but I very much like this prompt and the possibilities I had with it. I want to thank all of you who reviewed. The enthusiastic, encouraging words were so good to read. And I'm utterly flattered that even guys read this story..._

_For this prompt of course I had to make link between the White Lotus Society and the United Nations. Both being organizations trying to bind people above their very nations, they represent a certain balance in the world. In that perspective Zuko and Katara having become members of the Order resemble the princes and princesses who work for the UN in various commitees and advisory positions._

_For this chapter I have chosen music from yet another PS3 game (thanks to my bf of course), which is called Folklore (or FolksSoul). The game is enchanting in it's drawing and the music is beautiful._

_Then I have another question for you, my readers. As you may know I don't have a beta-reader so I try to do my best to beta my own chapters as best as I can. However, it's almost impossible (due to seeing the text too much and English not being my mother language) to see all the typos and grammar mistakes and correct them. I've been wanting to find a beta-reader for quite some time now, but I simply don't have the time to go searching and approach someone. So, here's my question for you: are there among you readers who would like to beta this story (both the upcoming and the previous chapters, with emphasis on the upcoming ones)? I would prefer it if you are registered as a beta-reader for FanFiction and are a native speaker. The chapters I'll send you at least will have reached the level of the above and previous chapters. The main thing I need the text to be checked on is grammar and spelling. I offer first view on chapters yet to be uploaded and my eternal gratitude ;-). If this sounds to your liking, please contact me. _

_Please feel free to review and t__hank you all again for reading. I hope you stay with me until the end of the story._


	43. Pillow

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 42: Pillow**

Music: Lilium, Kumiko Noma (Elfen Lied)/ Distant Memories, Kenji Kawai (Foklore)

The first sensation was one of pain; pain searing through her leg, as feeling slowly returned to her limbs. Then she noticed her hear was throbbing with pain. With difficulty she opened her eyes, first catching sight of the dark blue, silk pillow her head rested upon. 'Pillow'.

She didn't remember having a pillow when she… fell asleep? As a matter of fact, she didn't remember falling asleep at all. She groaned softly and squeezed her eyes shut again.

"Now don't sink back, my dear. I need you to stay awake," a gentle voice then said as a hand softly stroked her hair.

Katara's eyes shot open again… and looked straight into the shining blue gaze of a beautiful, middle-aged woman. Her tan face was framed by downy, snow white fur and the silks of her dress rustled underneath the fine woolen parka: The Chieftess of the Northern Water Tribe.

Katara's eyes widened and she shot up, only to sink back into the cushion moaning as she grabbed her head. The sound of soft laughter reached her ears.

"Now you're too enthusiastic. You only have to stay awake, but lay down quietly. You've had quite a fall," the Chieftess said seriously as she gently, but determinedly pushed Katara back.

Katara's gaze wandered around. She felt a pleasant warmth fill her body, as she caught a whiff of the freshly cut grass beneath her. Above her, tons of ice stretched out endlessly in a crystal-like, cave structure. Somewhere inside she felt she recognized the place.

"Your Majesty! I… I don't understand. What am I doing here? What happened…to me?" Her hand went to her hair, which was no longer braided, but lay sprawled around her as her eyes kept looking around nervously.

"My poor Katara, you've been more heavily injured than I thought. Don't you remember? We found you, just outside the city walls, with the Avatar's bison not far away from you. You were both unconscious. Dear Katara, you must have been caught by one of the most heavy blizzards the North Pole has seen in years."

Katara let the words wash over her, trying to find a word, an event, something she could recognize, anything she could recall. Then, as the Chieftess spoke of the Avatar's bison, it all came back to her; the moment she had to leave Zuko behind, the journey to the North Pole, the cold, the exhaustion, the blizzard… and then nothing.

"Appa!" Katara cried. "Appa! Is he alright? Oh, dear La, Appa…"

She struggled to rise up, but the Chieftess pushed her back again. "Relax Katara. Your bison is fine. He's eating lots and lots of hay at this moment at a warm place near the palace kitchen. In fact, he's doing better than you, so please lie down and rest."

Katara felt weariness weaken her limbs as she collapsed upon the pillow. Now that her fear for Appa had subsided, the searing pain was back. "Am I that badly hurt?" She asked.

The Chieftess nodded with concern in her eyes. "Yes, you are. We even had to bring you here to heal you."

Katara frowned in confusion and cast another look at her surroundings. It seemed warm and cold at the same time. A strange sensation. Her gaze returned to the Chieftess, empty. "Here…," she repeated slowly.

The Chieftess' breath seemed to catch for a moment. Then she whispered: "The Spirit Oasis, my dear… We are in the Spirit Oasis."

"The Spirit Oasis?" Katara mumbled as a hesitant smile lit up her eyes, finally recognizing her surroundings. "That's… perfect."

Then consciousness fled.

---

As the small group hastened through the abandoned streets of Sozin, Zuko followed at a short distance, his eyes trained on the three figures before him as he used shadows as he hid amongst corners and shadows.

General Bujing walked up front, followed by Admiral Chan and Mai, who sometimes glanced nervously about, a wary gaze in her cold, grey eyes. Her excellent warrior instinct was far superior to the general and the admiral's, Zuko noticed a bit bitter.

The crickets went to sleep as the group and its secret follower rushed through countless of streets, following a route only General Bujing could understand. When they determinedly rounded a corner that would lead to another part of the palace walls, opposite from where the rebels had picked up Mai, Zuko saw his fears come true; they were heading for the capital Fire Temple. Mai knew.

Whatever vital information Zuko had gathered on the egg when visiting the Sun Warriors' temple, he had carefully given to the Fire Sages for safe keeping. The temple was in possession of the most heavily guarded vault in the entire Fire Nation, behind the Dragon Bone Catacombs. In there, the state secrets were hidden, among the most holy documents the Fire Sages had in possession.

But that wasn't known to anybody but the Head-Sage and only a few people closest to the Fire Lord. Zuko's heart pounded in his ears and his hands trembled as he felt the magnitude of Mai's betrayal.

She was leading the nobles in the right direction.

As Zuko followed the group, a few clouds slid before the moon, glowing silvery above a fiery nation. Zuko's thoughts went to Katara. He hoped she would make it to the North Pole and tried not to think of the dangers she might face during her travel. He hadn't forgotten about the blizzard, in which he had dragged Aang into all those years ago. Shaking he head, Zuko willed himself to stay focused, as the little group rounded a corner and for a moment disappeared from his eyesight.

Subconsciously, he became the Blue Spirit again, combining stealth with lethal concentration, as he slipped past the corner and let his eyes wander across the surroundings.

Before him a large tower loomed over a small wall. Moonlight brought out the grim and pointy roofs. Behind the tower a rocky wall rose from the raised platform, weakly lit by the thousands of candles framing the terraces. For a moment, a feeling of déjà vu washed over him, as he stepped back into the shadows, pulling his hood over his head with glistening eyes, waiting for the nobles to act.

Had it already been two years since he had that he had approached the Fire Sages Capital Temple in the same stealthy way?

He felt grateful for having had the experience of sneaking into that place before, hoping for a small advantage on the little group before him. He ducked into his cloak and his eyes narrowed in concentration as his sharp gaze followed the three silhouettes. For a moment, a small gasping sound filled the air, followed by two dry thumps. The guards were out. Zuko clenched his fists.

One of the silhouettes, General Bujing stepped back and, as the moon disappeared behind a dark cloud, a fiery flame shot from his old fist. The door opened soundlessly. The moon returned

When the nobles slipped inside, they were unaware of the shadow following them at short distance, before the door closed again.

It was as Zuko had feared. As soon as the group was inside the temple, they headed almost instantly to the middle of the round building, their shadows slipping past the dimly lit dark red colonnade with golden dragon-tails winding around the pillars, until they had reached the intricately crafted rosette in the center.

His fear quickly rising, Zuko noticed that none of the sages who usually walked these corridors, eyes closed, their thoughts drifting to higher places, appeared around the corner.

Instead, General Bujing went to stand upon the center piece and as he looked around sharply through the folds of old skin framing his eyes, he heaved his arms and lit the six black holes surrounding him. As Zuko closed his eyes in agony, the rosette started to move and a staircase appeared.

The nobles had been preparing for this very well. With sadness Zuko thought about the fate of the Fire Sage. He wouldn't have given them the information to enter the Dragon Bone Catacombs that easily.

As General Bujing disappeared out of sight, Admiral Chan stepped forward, preparing to grab Mai by the elbow and to push her forward. But with a warning glance, she lifted her arm and with a sharp senbon suddenly gleaming in her hand, she walked down the stairs herself.

Zuko hadn't been into the Dragon Bone Catacombs since his uncle had sent him there. The creepiness of the place momentarily overwhelmed him again as he set foot into the endlessly long corridors, the bowed ceilings supported by dragon bones instead of marble and the enormous fires lighting the walls decorated with ancient dragon skulls. At least General Bujing would feel at home here, Zuko thought bitterly, as his mind wandered to the dragon egg the nobleman sought to destroy.

The small group rounded a corner and suddenly two enormous doors flanked by flickering flames loomed up before them, the sculptured portrait of Fire Lord Sozin standing out against the shadows created by the fierce flames. The ancient Fire Lord looked down with empty eyes on the people below him, waiting for the fire to reach for his heart.

Zuko bowed his head as General Bujing stepped forward, a small smile on his bloodless lips. His claw-like fingers stretched out over the sign of the flame, which started to gleam golden under his touch. A small trail of smoke escaped from the portrait's eyes and with a low rumble, the mighty doors slowly opened themselves. They were in the heart of the Dragon Bone Catacombs.

This was the moment he was waiting for. Knowing that the nobles couldn't go anywhere when they had all set foot into the catacombs, he readied himself to sneak closer to the doors and close them. He didn't care that Mai would share that fate with the nobles, his anger with her preventing him from feeling any pity for her.

Zuko straightened up from his crouched down position and silently crept forward, his golden eyes warily wandering from one corner of the place to the other, but all remained silent and the nobles felt safe as they stepped forward, a triumphant smile on their faces as they seemed to look at a certain point inside the catacombs. From his position, he couldn't see what it was they were looking at.

He pulled up his hood as he approached the doors and stretched out his hand to touch the flame on Sozin's chest, when his gaze finally got full view on the catacombs inside. His eyes widened and he gasped audibly as he felt nausea coming up, his thoughts swirling through his head with maddening speed. His hand fell useless alongside his body.

Inside the catacombs which normally only contained scrolls, on a pedestal lay a smooth, white egg. A dragon's egg.

Swaying on his feet for a moment, Zuko stepped back, then felt his hands being grabbed and roughly turned behind his back.

"What a pleasant surprise, Your Majesty," a deep voice said from behind. He closed his eyes and cursed inside. Admiral Chan. "How very nice of you to come pay us a visit just as we are about to end your reign… and your life."

---

They were walking in circles. Aang was positive of it now, as he saw the same stone pass by for the sixth time since he'd seen it first. The Spirit World had seemed to be a never-ending territory, but ever since the group of spirit travelers had commenced their journey, he'd felt that the realm the spirits were allowing them to travel in, became smaller and smaller. And all the while Avatar Roku and Prince Lu Ten seemed to know exactly where they were heading, not bothering to inform him or Toph who stepped forward beside him, her hand in his as they had grown accustomed to nowadays.

"This is the sixth time we walked into this rock, Twinkle Toes," she mumbled next to him, her sightless eyes focusing on the road before them. It still surprised him when he saw her doing that, but except for him, she could see everything in the Spirit World. And she had noticed too.

Ahead of them, Avatar Roku walked on imperturbably, speaking softly with his best friend's great grandson.

"Hey, hotmen!" Toph yelled, with some of her old wit. Both firebenders turned around, not looking the slightest bit offended, as Zuko had been. She noticed this with some disappointment. "What's with the walking in circles? I thought you knew the way?"

"Oh, but I do know the way, young lady Bei Fong," Avatar Roku said, making a small bow. "We're going in the exact direction the elemental spirits are directing us."

"Which is…?" Aang cut in.

A small smile appeared on Avatar Roku's face. "That's one of the mysteries of life, I guess," he responded cryptically and walked on.

***

After the seemingly unending moments in which the area they journeyed through seemed to become smaller and smaller, Avatar Roku stood still and looked around. They had stopped in a rocky landscape, the hills surrounding them littered with caves. Aang followed his gaze. Behind the rocky hills he could see a desert glistening in a non-existing sun. As his eyes rested upon the harsh scenery, the small hairs on the back of his neck prickled in a sudden rising unrest he couldn't explain.

A glance at Toph, who now sat with a happy smile on her face, content to be surrounded by her element, silenced his nervousness and he sat down as well putting his arm around her shoulders. She allowed it with a mysterious smile.

Aang's gaze wandered across the small group of people. With Avatar Roku having decided for this moment to rest, the storytelling had begun. Almost everyone, even the Monkey King, had told a story in the time they had shared together, except for Prince Lu Ten.

Most of the time, Iroh's son had resolved to stay quiet, listening intensely while remaining motionless in a cross-legged position. His discipline reminded the ever restless Aang of Zuko. The calm and thoughtful expression going with it, resembled a predator waiting patiently to attack, the quiet nothing more than an ultrathin mask carefully hiding the fiery force underneath it. It was a typical firebender calm, which gave the handsome Fire Nation men a certain air of danger around them, even when there was nothing to fear from them.

Now, the young man drew everyone's attention, when he said thoughtfully: "Tonight, I'm going to tell you about my death."

Next to Aang, Toph sucked in her breath audibly, but apart from the moment in which Lu Ten let his gaze rest upon the petite earthbender, he had no reaction and continued: "Every year, at my birthday and dying day, my father remembers me by having a picnic under a plum tree. For those of you to whom he wasn't able to tell about me and the day I fell," his soft smile was directed at Toph and Aang felt a hot tear fall to his hand when she blinked, "I want to tell you my story."

"I was born the only son of the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, who shortly before that had been rewarded the title Dragon of the West for having the killed the last living dragon. My birth cost my mother her life. As tradition wanted it, I was raised by teachers, but that didn't stop my father from being with me as much as his duties as crown prince allowed him to. He was a good father. In that respect, I was luckier than my cousin Zuko," Prince Lu Ten said tonelessly and closed his eyes for a moment, before he continued.

"My father loved my mother very much, so despite the fact that he had wanted me to have a mother in my early childhood years, he never remarried. He's the loyal kind. Instead, he tried to be my father as well as my mother." Lu Ten for a moment smiled quietly, a tender gaze in his golden eyes. "Despite the fact that he wasn't too bad at it, he was overjoyed when Aunt Ursa arrived at the palace as Uncle Ozai's bride. Uncle Ozai was, against tradition, my grandfather's second son, born when my father had already reached the age of maturity. But my own father, due to his military obligations, had been married late and I was still young when Aunt Ursa came to live with us. She was the warmest person I had ever met, with the most gentle, brown eyes I had ever seen. I felt immediately at ease with her. I've never understood why a woman so good and sweet could ever be with Uncle Ozai." He looked up at Avatar Roku, whose eyes suddenly reflected a certain weariness. The old Avatar sighed inaudibly.

"However, I was glad that she was, because during the times my father was away at campaign, which became more and more often as the years passed by, she was there for me to keep me company and listen to me when I came back from lessons, either with my hands full of books, or scorched by burns. I can remember that, when Zuko was born, I had the feeling that the spirits had given me a baby brother."

He shook his head and smiled a little, the golden hairpiece gleaming in the gloomy light of the Spirit World. "From the moment he could crawl around, I took him everywhere, showing him where I followed my lessons and what I had to learn. My Agni, I even let him fall into his mother's turtle duck pond once, because I wanted to show him what the pond looked like from between the irises. Aunt Ursa only shook her head and hushed her crying son." Everyone laughed.

"I think she was glad that I took notice of him so much, since his father only seemed interested in him becoming a good heir." Lu Ten pursed his lips.

"Luckily, when my father came on leave from his war campaigns in the Earth Kingdom, he took us both to the summer house on Ember Island and showed him what it meant to have a father."

His gaze slightly darkened. "Then came the day Fire Lord Azulon decided for the grandest of all of his campaigns, the one that was to be the crown on his work, his success to match his father's successes."

"The siege of Ba Sing Se," Toph whispered and Lu Ten nodded slowly, as an understanding gaze appeared in his eyes. Though the Earth Kingdom might be big, in fact, the largest of the four nations, Ba Sing Se was in the heart of each Earth Kingdom citizen.

"I had finally reached the appropriate age to join my father in what I saw as beneficial for the glory of the Fire Nation. When I heard of the Fire Lord's decision, I went to see Zuko and told him to keep working on his swordsmanship. During those years he had shown his talent for the blades, making up for his clearly lesser talent in firebending. I hoped that training him in the art of sword-fighting would give him some self-confidence. Before I left I was granted an audition with the Fire Lord who told me to be proud I could serve my nation in the name of my grandfather…" The Fire Prince looked with unseeing eyes in the distance, caught up in his memories.

"I was trained very well and after a happy reunion with my father under the walls of Ba Sing Se, I quickly made career in my father's army, without the General's help." He smiled a little as he said it.

Then he turned his gaze toward Aang and Toph and he suddenly looked stern. "You must understand that in those days my father wasn't the man you know him for nowadays. Crown Prince Iroh was a ruthless man when it came to warfare. And he still is, when the situation calls for it. Years and years of experience and practice has made him a master of tactics, blessed with eyes like a hawk. He sees everything, he knows everything and he thinks before he acts . That aspect of his character you may have seen only glimpses of now and then, but after my death his views on the meaning and purpose of life drastically changed. Only his old tea mania remained intact, perhaps becoming even more pronounced."

Aang and Toph were silent, not even daring to laugh at his last, more gently spoken words. Lu Ten was right. Iroh, General Iroh, Grandmaster Iroh, still did what he thought was necessary when pursuing an important case. Their thoughts wandered to the moments he had protected Zuko or the Moon Spirit and had attacked Ba Sing Se with the other grand members of the White Lotus Society. They wouldn't even be sitting here, if it hadn't been for Iroh's determination.

"Two years had passed since I had joined my father under the walls of Ba Sing Se," Lu Ten softly continued his story, "and although we've had some minor successes in breaching the city's defenses, the campaign wasn't going as smoothly as my father was accustomed to, or the Fire Lord had expected. In his palace far away in the Fire Nation capital, Fire Lord Azulon consulted with his old advisors and at last ordered Iroh to hurry up with the siege. There hadn't been a large victory for a long time and my grandfather needed the success. Enough was never enough for him. So, the day came that my father called all of his highest ranking officers to the royal quarters for a strategy meeting. I had only recently been promoted to the rank of commander and was very proud to be present on grounds of my merits, rather than my royal birth. My father, being the cunning man I know him to be, overnight had developed a plan to finally being able to overrun the city of Ba Sing Se. It was a brilliant plan, showing in all its glory the whit and cleverness of the man who had developed it. But it was risky; more risky than he had ever made a plan before. My father never has been reckless with the lives entrusted to him." Lu Ten sighed inaudibly.

"But he had no choice but to act on the will of the Fire Lord, so he developed a plan to break the enemy's defenses. And the crucial link in the plan was my division. The amount of trust he put in me was enormous and I could see in his eyes the faith he had in my talents and that of my division. The task was dangerous, the most dangerous of all aspects of his plan but he was ever the ruthless tactician; his calculations had told him that putting my division in that position would bring him the greatest chance of success, so he took it."

The silence that had descended on the group was heavier than ever before, as the travelers listened to Lu Ten's story.

Toph had grown so rigid that she only noticed when she swallowed painfully, clearing her dry throat. From all of the Young War Heroes beside Zuko she had grown closest to Uncle Iroh, but he had never told her or even Zuko she had realized, about the painful events in which he had lost his son. Toph knew that Zuko had become the old man's reason for living on: His young nephew had become a substitute son for him.

Toph remembered one peaceful spring evening, when the rest of the Young War Heroes had visited them in Ba Sing Se and Zuko and Katara had ended up sitting on the porch, talking quietly with each other. Toph had heard their hushed voices, talking about nothing interesting in particular and the satisfied edge to their tones.

A rustling sound of robes had told her that her mentor had joined her in her eavesdropping and just when she stepped back and wanted to apologize, he remarked: "Well, well, look at Zuko sitting there, talking. Katara really has taken his fear for girls away…"

Toph had stifled a chuckle, but before she could say something he added quietly: "He's beginning to look more and more like Lu Ten each day." Toph had stiffened, hearing the emotion in his hoarse, sing-song voice, but before she could say anything in response Uncle Iroh had left.

"In order to breach Ba Sing Se's defenses one needs to take out the Terra Team," Lu Ten continued quietly, tonelessly as if giving cold instruction to his listeners. "They are the most important defenders of the city's walls, a group of elite earthbenders, and the finest in the nation. Bringing them down equals bringing down the city of Ba Sing Se. My father's plan in essence was very simple: lure them out of their bases using a small decoy and attack the city from another angle. The small decoy consisted of a group of elite swordsmen with bender's abilities who could stealthily reach the walls of Ba Sing Se without being noticed. So, the next evening we went on our way. We had prepared a light bomb to create enough noise and chaos to make the Terra Team come down and investigate the walls, while we were hiding in the shadows. The plan worked brilliantly. Accustomed as they were to the traditional attacks during daylight, we had completely surprised the earthbenders and one after another they came down to take a look at the walls and repair them. It wasn't long until my men were fighting the earthbenders fiercely and with a small glance over my shoulder I could see my father had set in motion the second part of his plan. As I returned my attention to the fight I was in, I saw that to my satisfaction I was driving back the earthbender, who had to fight both my swords and my firebending. Panic was growing within him; I could see it in his eyes. I took another step forward, determined to strike the last blow when I heard a warning scream from behind me. The last thing I recall was looking up and then nothing."

Even the Monkey King had stopped pretending to be meditating and his face bore a fascinated expression as his yellow eyes looked down on the Fire Prince.

Lu Ten quietly broke the painful silence. "It seems that the earthbender I had been fighting, in his panic had pulled a loose brick out of the wall he was defending; but the wall had weakened considerably, even more than we all had anticipated, from the bomb. And the wall came down, burying a few earthbenders and half of my division. When he heard the news, my father was devastated. He hadn't seen the wall coming down, having been a few miles away. He broke off the siege, that day, and left the battleground. It was only after a long journey through the Earth Kingdom that he returned to the Fire Nation. During that time he had made contact with members of the White Lotus Society and the doubts he had had before about the siege of Ba Sing Se which cost him six hundred days of his life and the life of his son, budded in a total rejection of war for dominance. It was the White Lotus Society that showed him the way to enter the Spirit World and visit me." He was silent for a moment. "We had our goodbyes at last. And when he finally returned to the palace, he came back as a secret member of the White Lotus Society and with a new mission: To help and protect my young cousin, my brother, and prepare him for the years to come… I'm glad they both have found their peace." He looked at Toph and gave a small, grateful nod, his sharp gaze softening somewhat.

"When Uncle met with you in the Spirit World… did… did you tell him… about this?" She whispered and Lu Ten smiled reassuringly.

"You can trust me when I say that all has been spoken about."

"I hate to interrupt," a listless voice then said, "but I think there's trouble heading for us from that direction."

Everyone jerked their heads up and their gazes followed the long, extended finger of the Monkey King. Then their eyes widened in shock. From the desert a violent sandstorm approached with deadly speed. They froze.

---

"Something's stirring in the city," Hakoda mumbled as his ship quietly approached Sozin's inner harbor. Next to him, Master Pakku nodded. His stern, cold eyes searched the quay, looking for anything unusual. He looked up when Sokka joined them at the bow. For a moment the three of them looked silently at the city before them, the small lights flickering in the dark night and a threatening rumbling echoing through the crater.

Then Master Pakku spoke. "We have to be careful."

---

**A/N:** _At first I want to thank BellsOfPeace and Shrilaraune for being such fantastic betas! I'm very grateful for them having done a great job._

_Also I want to thank all of you who reviewed. I'm very excited that you were so glad with the new update and you continue to amaze me with your love for the story. _

_I__ very much would want to update every week, but the way my life is now, it's just not possible. I'm just too tired to do that any longer. On the other hand, it creates a certain space for me to end this story properly without having to lower the quality as I write the finishing chapters._

_Because, that's where we are by now... There are three more chapters to go, so get ready for a spectacular ending to this story!_

_The music in this chapter is from Elfen Lied which I stumbled upon on YouTube. I love this kind of music..._

_Lately (when I'm not writing) I've also taken an interest in the Dramione-ship and I'm exploring some of the fanfiction centered around this pairing. I never have been much of a shipper in the Harry Potter fandom (heck, I didn't even knew about shipping back then!) but the ship kind of like resembles Zutara, so hence my sudden and massively late interest. I find Zutara fanfiction to be of better quality, though. Are there among you Zutarians any Dramione-shippers who can recommend a good fic about this pairing?_

_I look forward to seeing you again with next chapter when the action begins and of course feel free to review!_


	44. Hover

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 43: Hover**

Music: Nightwish, The Poet and the Pendulum (Instrumental)

Zuko stiffened, and then felt a violent push; he stumbled forward. Stabilizing himself, he straightened, eyes rising to the slate, grey gaze of his girlfriend. The disinterest they usually expressed made way for a nervousness he had never encountered in her before. His golden eyes narrowed. 'Yes, definitely nervousness and… a bit of shame,' he noted with surprise. His gaze darkened, but before he could say anything, Mai had averted her eyes, bitterly.

Zuko squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, clenching his fists. Rage stormed through his body and he didn't dare to look at her again. Any guilt he had felt toward her was burned away in the wake of the fury coursing through him.

How could she?! How could she have betrayed him—the Fire Nation this much? Did her discontent over his journey with Katara run so deep that she was willing to hand him over to the very group who sought his doom?

Swallowing, he forced his thoughts to the most urgent matter at hand: the egg, gleaming in the dim light of the Dragon Bone Catacombs. General Bujing let out a scornful laugh as he sauntered over to the egg.

"Isn't it ironic, your Majesty, how all at once everything you hold dear, everything to deem safe can crumble into nothingness?" He patted the egg with his ringed hand and Zuko cringed involuntary at the hollow sound the metal made on the vulnerable shell.

He gritted his teeth, withstanding the urge to jump for the old nobleman. General Bujing saw his effort and afforded himself a small smirk. "No need for shallow emotions, Your Majesty, the egg's destiny has already been sealed when we accomplished the abduction from the Sun Warrior's Temple. Nice civilization you're keeping there, by the way. Not something Your Majesty was inclined to share with the public, I presume? I bet it would be a huge competitor with Ember Island for the Fire Nation tourist…"

"Get to the point, General," Zuko finally snapped, for a moment losing the composed, cold attitude he had assumed the moment General Bujing had begun speaking. "What is it you want of me, in exchange for this egg?"

The general for a moment raised his eyebrow in surprise, and then a mock smile blossomed onto his ruthless, old features, as all previously shown emotion once again was drained from Zuko's face.

He looked to Admiral Chan, who had been standing silently behind Zuko. "Do you hear that, Chan? He thinks there's something left to trade. Although it is rather adorable," he approached Zuko, "that the Fire Lord is actually willing to give up his position, all that he cares for…" his gaze for a moment flitted toward Mai, "to save a dragon's egg." He bowed forward, bringing his face closer to Zuko's, then suddenly his expression changed into a furious, contemptuous scowl, as he hissed: "The Fire Nation is ruled by an infant!"

Zuko remained motionless under the general's look, a cold expression in his eyes.

"Did Mai participate in this?" His voice was ice as he looked down on the elder man, ignoring his insult.

"In what way exactly?" The old general smirked, but Zuko only repeated: "Did Mai participate in the abduction of the egg, or did she not?" A dangerous demand now laced his cold tone; he remained otherwise composed.

From the corner of his eyes, Zuko thought he saw Mai start toward him, as if she wanted to say something, but the general silenced her with a warning gesture, then seemed to sigh wearily.

"No, Your Majesty, she did not. Does this satisfy you?"

"Hardly." Zuko answered curtly, his thoughts searching frantically for a way out of this mess. However, the attempt was unsuccessful and with growing fear he watched as the general snapped his fingers and Mai slowly stepped forward. She didn't look at Zuko as she turned to face the general.

For a moment he seemed to scrutinize the former governor's daughter's face, and then said coldly: "You know what you're here for. Open the cabinet, as you agreed on."

For a moment Mai hesitated, seeming to feel Zuko's eyes burn in her back, but then, as General Bujing narrowed his eyes warningly, she bowed her head and approached the broad stairs leading to the enormous sculpture that was Fire Lord Sozin's head.

She walked up the stairs and stood still before the enormous mouth, a tiny figure ready to be devoured. Trembling, she turned around and cast a regretful gaze at Zuko, whose seething yet composed gaze seemed to burn her to a crisp.

"I'm sorry Zuko," she whispered; and she disappeared behind the statue.

A dry click followed her disappearance and a moment later she reappeared, her arms full of ancient scrolls and documents. Her gaze betrayed an expression of loathing as she threw them down at General Bujing's feet. "Here they are."

His eyes started to glisten ecstatically as the old general stared at the parchment at his feet.

"Well done, my dear. Be assured you have my deepest gratitude for assisting us in setting up your boyfriend's doom."

Mai's eyes widened and for the first time ever, Zuko saw a look of shock pass over her impassive face for a moment. He realized then that Mai had only thought to lead the nobles toward some egg. Now the consequences of her actions slowly started to dawn to her. A pang of pity shot through him, off balancing his feelings of rage and helplessness.

She made a step backwards. Then suddenly she let out a cry in dismay, as two dark cloaked figures emerged from the shadows and grabbed her at the shoulders. She writhed in their grasp, trying to break loose but the hands capturing her, held her in an iron grip.

Her face contorted in a scowl as she looked furiously at the old general, delving eagerly in the ancient scrolls. Finally the old man looked up and signaled the two silent rebels.

"Dispose of her," he ordered coldly.

"What?! No! You…!" Mai yelled as the two rebels pushed her toward the entrance. She realized her position and the panic disappeared, making place for the calm indifference that marked her.

Zuko watched as Mai was being led away, her chin in the air and her posture straight, and despite his fury toward her, he marveled at her success in regaining her dignity so quickly. The agony she must be feeling right now, coming to the realization of the magnitude of her betrayal, was effortlessly locked away behind the stone cold mask he knew so well. The perfectly raised noble girl. The perfect Fire Lady.

Mai avoided his gaze as she was led away quickly, her cold, grey eyes devoid of any emotion, only emptiness and the heavy air of hopelessness surrounding her. Her dark silk robes brushed his legs when she passed him. He turned his head slightly. At last, she turned as well and caught his gaze. He met with a look of utter despair. A single tear slid silently down her cheek.

For a moment Zuko didn't move as Mai and her captors disappeared out of sight, numbed by the course of events. He then closed his eyes, inwardly cursing as the image of the glistening tear welling from Mai's eyes stuck in his memory. He glanced at the egg, but he had already come to his decision. He couldn't, wouldn't stand by and do nothing.

Carefully he lifted his arms as if to cross them before his chest and mentally readied himself.

Before Admiral Chan knew what happened, he was knocked down by a gush of fire and two gleaming broad swords. With a single look at the egg and General Bujing, Zuko ran after Mai.

His footsteps rang hollowly as he rushed past the dragon skulls and the enormous stone doors that were Fire Lord Sozin. He paused for a moment, panting and looked around frantically. Where were they? They couldn't have disappeared this quickly.

Then he caught the gleam of a knife from the corner of his eye and saw Mai, cornered by the two rebels. She was holding in her hands two sharp senbons as she took up a threatening stance. Apparently she had tried to break free, but with doing so, she had chosen a part of the great hall that led to a dead end. As he slowly turned around, Zuko sensed that the two were firebenders and that she had no chance of escaping them, even with her skills in combat.

He had only one moment to act.

***

The razor sharp senbons gleamed silvery in the flickering torchlight and Mai saw her knuckles turn white as she clenched them in her well-manicured hands. Her grey eyes registered her hopeless situation as the rebels drew nearer, a smirk on their faces.

Her failed escape had provided them with the opportunity of finishing her off earlier then they had expected. But the dangerous glint in their eyes told her that she had provoked their hunting instincts and finishing her off had dropped a few points on their priority list. It wasn't every day they could lay their hands on the girlfriend of the Fire Lord himself.

Mai bit back a tear threatening to blur her eyesight. How had it come to this? Was this where her feelings of revenge had led her? She didn't have to close her eyes to once again see the look in Zuko's eyes when he realized what she had done.

The distant, cold look she had always admired in him had turned into a swirling pool of rage and hurt. She had frozen to her spot, her eyes widening, for the first time not being able to avert her gaze as she stared right into his very soul.

And what she saw frightened her to the core of her being. In his gaze she saw a ferocity, a passion that had always been there though she never really had seen it before.

Either that or she had chosen to ignore it, she realized. A feeling of alienation started to take over; and as the gold of his eyes seemed to turn liquid, Mai suddenly understood. She didn't recognize this seething young man, standing at the foot of the giant statue of his ancestor, and drew back from the loyalty, the vulnerability she saw in his eyes.

But the main thing that struck her was a strange determination, a certainty, she had never sensed in him before. His eyes shone with a deep love that she couldn't understand, a love that wasn't directed at her.

The soft voice she had heard when visiting Azula had been right. Before her very eyes, the image she had of him since childhood shattered into a thousand pieces.

She had flinched and averted her gaze, not been able to endure his stare any longer. Only one word, one name shot through her mind as she whispered her apology to him and provided General Bujing with the scrolls he needed.

Now, she looked indifferently at the two men before her, sliding into stance almost automatically as she silently welcomed the numbness of the long-practiced impassiveness slowly taking over. She had gambled and she had lost. More than she had ever bargained for, she only now started to see. But all of this didn't matter now. Her feelings were reduced to the faint hope that Zuko would be able to prevent the general from acting and undo the damage she had done. As for herself… Mai closed her eyes and readied herself as the two men closed the last distance between them.

***

A soft whistling sound broke the threatening silence as two senbons cut through the air, directed with deadly aim at the rebels. But Mai almost immediately saw she had waited too long. The senbons she had thrown were meant for long distances and though the blades hit the men hard, they didn't caused as much damage as they should have done. With a growl the two men pulled the bloody blades from their shoulders and suddenly jumped for her. Mai's eyes widened and she involuntary ducked away, bracing herself for the impact, but it never came.

Instead she felt the wind of swirling blades caress the skin of her face, followed by the scorching heat of fire. Opening her eyes she saw both her captors stumble back as a raven-haired man wielding two dual broad swords had jumped between them and Mai.

_Zuko_.

Mai widened her eyes, as she saw him fighting the men with fire and blades, the fury in his movements tempered by iron control. He had come for her. She couldn't believe it. After all that had happened, her betrayal, he had come for her. A flash of confusion for a moment flickered across her impassive features.

At that moment Zuko spun around and yelled at her: "Mai! Pay attention!"

Turning around sharply, she noticed that Zuko had gotten surrounded by a dozen other rebels who suddenly had appeared in the great hallway. Her eyes locked with Zuko's and seeing only encouragement laced with warning shimmering in his gaze. He ducked for a fire-bolt cast in his direction and in one movement swirled behind the attacker, giving him a dangerous blow with one of his broadswords.

The slight surprise over the absence of anger in his gaze disappeared when a determined expression settled over her face. He had saved her life, just like she had saved his in the Boiling Rock. He had come for her when he had no obligation what so ever toward her, the girlfriend who betrayed him. But he had come nonetheless, despite the danger the Fire Nation was in. Soundlessly Mai released two new senbons into the palms of her hand. A concentrated expression steeled over. She wouldn't fail him this time.

With immense relief Zuko saw a gleaming senbon flying through the air, making contact with one of his attackers. The next moment Mai popped up next to him, the warrior's gaze he knew so well, glistening in her eyes.

Thank Agni, he silently thought as he motioned for her to position herself behind him. For a moment he had feared she had already been hit deadly, by the way she hadn't reacted to the threat at hand as she used to do.

Mai nodded to him, letting him know she had seen him, but not meeting his eyes. Silently they fought the dozen highly trained rebels, managing to drive them back, but not completely defeating them. Zuko ducked for another fire-bolt aiming for him as he frantically sought a way to eliminate them, without having to kill them.

If only Katara was here, he inwardly groaned. Together they would have been able to disarm the rebels without so much hurting them. Katara… for a moment he was distracted by the memory of her clear blue eyes looking at him with a warm smile, a loving edge to them. And not for the first time his breath caught as he felt the feeling of missing her by his side.

A searing pain then cracked his shoulder and he stumbled backward.

Groaning he stood up and faced his attacker. The moment he had loosened his attention, the man had used the opening and Zuko clenched his teeth as he knew he had been lucky that it had only been his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes as he grabbed his broadswords with renewed concentration and surged forward.

But before he could attack the man, a sound of light laughter reached his ears. He turned around confused to suddenly see a flash of green pass before his eyes, jabbing the man in a few well-aimed places. The man went down unceremoniously, as if he had been petrified. Zuko looked down, not quiet understanding yet, when the lighthearted laughter filled the somber halls again.

Then he heard Mai's impassive voice exclaim gratefully: "Ty Lee!" And before him a lithe girl landed with utmost gracefulness, despite the heavy costume of the Kyoshi Warriors she was wearing. She looked up at him and a smile softened her completely painted features. "Hello, Your Majesty. Long time no see."

Zuko's eyes followed her when she turned around and engaged herself fully in the fight. As he was accustomed to seeing , she seemed to dance across the men's heads, almost as if she was playing hide and explode with them, but her deadly aim never wavered and had been enhanced by the fighting techniques she had learned on Kyoshi Island.

She made a summersault and landed before Mai, who, despite her character, pulled her into a tight hug.

"Surprised I came, huh?" Zuko heard Ty Lee mumble, as she patted Mai's shoulder. "That I warned you not to get involved with those hideous rebels, doesn't mean I don't look out for you."

She let go of Mai and, jabbing a few of the attacking men, made her way over to Zuko who just fended off another attack, carefully reining in his fire.

She smiled as she landed next to him. "I want you to know that you've hurt Mai very badly and I won't easily forgive you for that."

Zuko let his eyes wander to the governor's daughter as she disarmed two men by using only her flying senbons.

"I know," he said quietly as he raised his swords against yet another attacker. "I don't know if I ever will be able to forgive myself."

Ty Lee glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then beckoned Mai.

"Good. Then you also know that I will and can only forgive you if you get yourself out of here, save whatever those rebels want that's in this dreadful place and settle things with Katara as quickly as possible."

She made another summersault and jabbed the man in front of him between the shoulders, grinning at Zuko's stupefied look. It had become quieter in the great hall as many men had been defeated.

"Zuko…" A low, husky voice quietly spoke up next to him. He stared at the floor.

"I know about your mother's return." He jerked up his head and saw her looking at him intently, a sad expression appearing in her eyes. "She came to me when I visited Azula…" she added softly. "I'm sorry for what I've done. I really am. But I am not sorry for the fact that I did it to protect her. The nobles seemed to suspect her presence in the palace and kept asking about her…"

Suddenly Zuko realized what it was what the nobles were so displeased about when Mai had shaken her head the first time he saw them. A feeling of gratitude toward Mai washed over him.

"Zuko… you have to get going now, Mai and I can handle the rest of this scum," Ty Lee cut in and Mai nodded. Hesitating he looked behind them, only to find a gleaming knife put on his throat. His eyes met with Mai's warning gaze.

"We're going to be alright," she said, letting the gleam of the senbon dance across his face. Then her lips pulled up in the smallest of smiles and she pushed him in the right direction. "Now go!"

He took a few steps back, and then turned around for the last time. His gaze softened as he saw her encouraging nod. She was letting him go.

"Thank you, Lady Mai," he said with a bow, then turned around and ran back into the long dragon-bone corridor.

***

Zuko slowed down as he neared the end of the hallway, ducking behind the last black marble pedestal, upon which a dragon skull rested. No sound came from the room, he noticed. Stealthily he crept closer, a plan forming in the back of his head. Instead of heading for the still opened front doors, he slipped into a dark corner behind the last pillar. A small door, made of black ebony appeared in his view. Zuko smiled one of his rare smiles. It may have been that some people close to the Fire Lord could open cabinets inside his underground archive, but that didn't mean they had knowledge of every secret the catacombs harbored. He lifted his right hand and the gold of his signet ring shimmered in the scarce, flickering torchlight. The small door made no sound when it opened after being unlocked by the seal of the Fire Lord.

Low to the ground Zuko proceeded into the narrow corridor as darkness engulfed him. The smell of old soil reached his nose. After what seemed like hours, his head hit something hard and as he cursed under his breath he knew he had reached the other end of the corridor. Quietly, he opened this door as well and found himself at an inconspicuous spot behind the large statue of Fire Lord Sozin.

Freezing in his movements, he narrowed his eyes and watched as the two nobles straightened themselves, triumphantly holding up a certain piece of parchment. Zuko's gaze followed the waving of the scroll through the air when his eye caught the picture drawn on it. It was the explanation on how to ritually destroy the dragon's egg and the rebels read it as he watched. They hovered over the egg, then cursed. He strained his ears to pick up their mumbling when he heard General Bujing say: "We have to take it into an active volcano, after all."

"The Sozin Crater," Admiral Chan then said and the old general nodded.

Zuko's lips pursed together. There was no time to lose anymore.

Suddenly feeling very weary, he rose from his crouched down position and once again pulled out his twin broad swords as he sighed mentally. When was he ever going to get some peace and quiet? The image of Katara's face for a moment drifted before his eyes, her gaze tender despite the coolness of her eye color, warding off the weariness in an instant. His hands clenched his swords so tightly that the knuckles turned white and he surged forward.

Admiral Chan had no chance of warding off the attack as he was hit hard on the neck and he felt the burning sensation of his shoulder being cut open. Blood splashed on the floor. Next to him, General Bujing made a hissing sound. "The Fire Lord!"

Both soldiers turned around and slid into stance, though Admiral Chan a bit shaky.

Zuko was driven back for a moment, the advantage of his surprise attack subsiding, but he found that it didn't bother him. As long he could keep them away from the egg. He allowed the corners of his mouth to curl up for a moment, upon hearing the loath in Bujing's voice. Spirits, that man must secretly hate him so much.

Taking a few steps back, he deliberately held back on his attacks, waiting for the older men to surge for him, frustration dripping from their faces.

He stepped back somewhat further and a smirk appeared on General Bujing's old features. "What's the matter, Your Majesty… Forgot how to fight?" He slightly pulled back his arm, readying himself for another attack. "But then again… you never were much of a fighter, isn't it? Crawling before daddy's feet, begging him like the coward that you are."

From the corner of his eye, Zuko noticed Admiral Chan slightly moving to the side, blocking an escape from the corner they were driving him in slowly. His face showed no emotion, when he looked at General Bujing, not even feeling a slight flinch at the general's harsh words.

"Tell me, General," he said unmoved, "how you managed to kidnap that egg from the Sun Warrior's Temple."

Wrinkles deepened as the old man peered at him, as if calculating Zuko's intentions. Then a slight smile passed over his thin lips. "You would want to know that, do you? After so many years of having hidden their very existence, first your uncle, then you."

He slightly lowered his hands. "It was a mistake of you to come back, you know. You may have been thinking that you might be able to take an old man, but you certainly won't stand a chance against the two of us."

Behind Zuko, the Admiral snorted.

Zuko only continued looking at the old General, a hard stare in his eyes. "How?" He demanded, ignoring his previous words.

"You sure are curious for someone, who's about to die, young man," the old General suddenly snapped, but then his smirk returned. "It really wasn't that difficult, though. After your accidental meet up with Admiral Chan's son and some slight rumors of the divine Spirit Princess returning to the Fire Nation after years of banishment in the Earth Kingdom," his smirk widened, "it wasn't that hard to get exactly that piece of information from your 'girlfriend'. Of course, she probably thought that she was protecting the Spirit Princess, or should I call her… Fire Princess Ursa?" He added suggestively, but Zuko's stony face didn't betray anything. "Anyhow," the general seemingly became a bit bored at Zuko's unresponsive attitude, "I sent twelve of our footmen to the Sun Warrior's Temple. The ones that survived the trip and brought me the egg I had executed afterwards. So…" he squinted his eyes as finally a flash of shock passed over Zuko's face, "you don't have to worry about your little secret from coming out. Satisfied?" He repeated his question from before.

Zuko took a deep breath and seemed to think it over for a moment, then looked up at the general once more. "Not at all," he then responded softly and suddenly lunged for the two soldiers, broad swords singing through the air as he jumped over them.

Two simultaneous gasps were heard as the older men turned around and saw Zuko standing behind them, waiting for their attack, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

That was the moment when Admiral Chan decided to direct a fire-bolt at him. Until then the soldiers had held back on their bending, confident in their abilities to capture and kill Zuko without the use of fire. But the Fire Lord had beaten his admiral one time too many.

The fire-bolt lit up the large space as it came for Zuko who only pursed his lips again. He stepped aside and with one movement of his hand let the flames disappear into thin air. For a moment he and Admiral Chan only looked at each other, then the admiral's eyes widened in shock as suddenly two fiery fire whips emerged from the young man, setting his razor sharp blades in a golden glow. The whips dashed over to them, and by a stroke of meager luck both of the men escaped the hissing streams of fire grabbing at them.

Stumbling, both men were drawn helplessly into a corner and Zuko smirked. The bolts of fire they were throwing at him, he easily dodged and it had been a long time ago since their last mocking remarks had died on their lips. They had underestimated him heavily and now they were paying the price.

He made a step forward, prepared to draw a burning ring of fire around them, when he suddenly felt a heavy blow crash into his skull. He let out a groan as his knees collapsed underneath him. The sound of his swords clattering to the hard marble floor reached his ears as he fell forward.

"I'm sorry we're late, father," he heard a familiar voice say, as he pressed his hands to the cold floor, trying to get up again. He cursed inwardly. Chan.

"Admiral," another voice spoke lazily as a greeting. Zuko recognized that one too. Ruon-Jian.

He felt his head being pulled up by the hair. "It seems as if the tables have turned, Your Majesty," General Bujing hissed, hatred contorting his face as he looked Zuko in the eye, before yanking his head down with force.

"Alright," he called, stepping over Zuko's body. "Things have become a bit heated in here. I'm sure the commotion with the Fire Lord's girlfriend has alarmed the Royal Guard. We take the egg and we go."

With his old hands he took the egg from the pedestal.

"What do we do with the Fire Lord?" Admiral Chan asked, while Zuko saw his boots coming closer.

"Leave him," the General said devilishly. "No one knows he's here and when someone does find him, his reign will be over."

The boots disappeared from Zuko's view and he heard the heavy, stone doors slowly rumbling shut. Groaning, he grabbed his head which threatened to burst into thousand pieces as he slowly, carefully sat up. Through the stars that hindered his eyesight, he silently looked at the now empty pedestal. He was surrounded by a deadly silence.

Zuko pulled up his knees, hugging them while clutching his cloak tighter around him, as Katara's soft features swam before his eye again.

And as the horror at what just had happened started to seep into his painfully throbbing head, he knew everything was lost. He had been horribly misjudging Chan and Ruon-Jian.

He bowed his head and silently started to cry.

---

A small ray of light swept across the wooden deck of the Water Tribe vessel, barely noticeable, but for the watch who was ordered to pay attention.

Now he came down quietly and positioned himself next to his Chief, a grey silhouette in the surrounding darkness. "Your Majesty, the light," he merely said, before turning on his heels and disappearing again. Hakoda turned to his son.

"She's coming," his deep, gentle voice called quietly and he saw Sokka's eyes light up, before the Crown Prince took off with long strides, heading toward the back of the ship. Hakoda smiled.

Sokka's eyes impatiently searched the black water's surface for a small boat, heading for the Water Tribe's flag ship. Finally, as the moon for a moment peeked from behind the dark clouds, shrouding her, a small boat emerged from the Fire Nation warship looming protectively in front of the Water Tribe ship, hiding it from view. Not long thereafter a Kyoshi Warrior in heavy green robes sprung into his arms, carefully keeping her painted face away from him.

"Did they treat you well?" He asked concerned as he held at arms' length. Her brilliant blue eyes narrowed as a smile lit up her frightening mask.

"Of course they did, Sokka!" She shook her head. "But you must understand I rather stayed with them until we reached the harbor then risking another of such a crossing at open sea. Or did you miss me?" She added teasingly. And Sokka, ever clever witted one, simply nodded and smiled.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot from the scout ship into the air and behind it, revealing numerous gigantic war ships that the darkness had protected from sight thus far. The entire Fire Nation Eastern Fleet, accompanied by the other Water Tribe war ships, had closed off the harbor entirely. The beam of light was picked up by the other Fire Nation war ships and repeated itself into the darkness of the open seas.

Then countless of small vessels emerged from both Fire Nation and Water Tribe ships and headed for the quay.

Quietly they came ashore and the soldiers immediately silenced the few Fire Nation Army soldiers, which had been standing guard that night and lined up in rows, Fire Nation rows next to Water Tribe ones. The men had a grim look on their faces.

Hakoda put himself in front and was followed by Commander Jee and all of their captains. Sokka, Master Pakku and Suki positioned themselves behind them. A few golden gazes wandered toward the conspicuous appearance of the Kyoshi Warrior but otherwise the concentration shone from their eyes. Before Hakoda stood a fighting force of an enormous magnitude.

He cleared his throat. "Listen carefully," he spoke quietly. "Tonight we're assembled here, both Fire Nation," he nodded at Commander Jee who bowed back lightly, "and Water Tribe forces to come the aid of the Fire Lord in what perhaps will be the most dire hours of his reign. As we're standing here, a coup is going on which will plunge the Fire Nation and the entire world into another dark era, if those rebels are not stopped." He waited for a moment. "I won't deny that I have another, far more personal reason for standing here before you," he added quietly, "as my daughter, Katara, is facing the same dangers which are threatening the Fire Lord right now…"

He held up a scroll. "This letter…"

"Chief Hakoda, Your Majesty?"

A voice suddenly cut him off and Hakoda slightly turned around, looking down on a young Fire Nation man, who nervously looked up at him, his eyes only straying for a second upon seeing the army lined up before him.

"Who are you?" Hakoda asked eventually, his brows slightly raised. Behind him, Commander Jee had inconspicuously beckoned a few soldiers who now formed a protective circle around the Water Tribe royal family and slid into a stance. Next to him, another boy had turned up, his lazy gaze equally shaken.

The young man swallowed.

"I'm the one who send you that letter," he croaked, pointing with a trembling finger at the scroll Hakoda held in his hand. "The letter that states that the letter sent by the leader of Senlin Harbor is not to believed and that both the Fire Lord and the Water Princess are in grave danger."

Hakoda didn't move, his steel gaze piercing into the young man's. He lowered his eyes.

"Who are you?" Hakoda asked again, ignoring the boy's words. The force behind him tensed and readied themselves.

"I'm Chan and this Ruon-Jian," the boy then said meekly. "We're with the rebels' party."

"It's Admiral Chan's son, one of the leaders," Commander Jee whispered to Hakoda, who nodded curtly, not taking his eyes of the boys.

A grumble went through the army, but Commander Jee put up a hand warningly as the boys stepped back. Hakoda stared at them, and asked: "And why are you helping us then?"

Chan bowed his head.

"The Fire Lord is a forgiving man," he said softly. "We ran into him and the Water Princess when we broke into his summer house on Ember Island… Only to find out, we had insulted him even more then only violating his house…"

"Wait! You've seen my sister on Ember Island?" Sokka now stepped forward and Chan glanced at the tall young man, barely older then himself; looking at him eagerly, he nodded. Sokka let out a sigh of relief. Hakoda's eyes slightly softened, when he asked: "And?"

Chan looked to the ground again. "The Fire Lord has told us to go along with the rebels as long as possible, but when the moment is there, remember our obligations toward the Fire Lord. So, here we are," he ended a bit tamely.

A strong hand descended on his shoulder and when Chan looked up, a warm smile played in Hakoda's eyes.

"Thank you for sending the letter," he said. "It helped confirm rising suspicions about the sincerity of the previous one. Now, if I'm not wrong, I believe you two boys know where to go to prevent this coup." His grip tightened and his gaze hardened. "The Fire Lord has put his trust in you and so will I, but if I notice you're not being worth of both our trusts…"

The boys nodded hastily and Chan almost tripped over his words when he said: "You must go into the Dragon Bone Catacombs, underneath the capital Fire Temple. That's where the Fire Lord has been locked up. Please, hurry… he's in great danger."

---

The Prime-Minister didn't hear the knock on the door when he stood on his balcony watching the streets of the capital being changed into a battleground. He had risen from his bed, when he had heard rumor swelling and had hastened to the balcony upon seeing hundreds of fire-bolts lighting up the dark night sky.

It has begun, he had thought glumly as he saw Fire Nation soldiers fighting against each other. The rebels were finally taking over and the Fire Lord was nowhere near the city. His eyes had been trained on one fight nearby, when suddenly a soldier dressed in Water Tribe garment emerged from the dark streets and splashed down a member of the Royal Guard so to help the other Fire Nation soldier, before they went separate ways. The Prime-Minister had gulped for air, not believing what he'd just seen.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Your Excellency, but this is urgent." His Defense Minister Jeong Jeong, the one who had been rapping on the door, now joined him on the balcony after making an apologizing bow toward the Prime-Minister's wife.

"I see that," the Prime-Minister responded sadly, " the rebels are finally taking over."

Jeong Jeong turned around and fixed his eyes on the streets as well, his scar temporarily lighting up fiercely in the light of the fire bolts. Then he shook his head. "No, these aren't the rebels taking over. Not yet. This is the Eastern Fleet fighting alongside the Water Tribe to ensure that the rebels won't get the chance."

The Prime-Minister spun around. "What?" He called sharply.

Jeong Jeong nodded, his hard stare not averting from the scenery before him. "I've received a letter from Commander Jee," he said, but before he could continue, another figure appeared on the balcony, almost soundlessly as he put away his sword and slightly bowed his head.

His dark skin and black beard made him almost indiscernible in the dark night. "And I as well," he said. "It seems that the Young War Heroes are in need of help. I'm here to offer mine."

"Master Piandao," the Prime-Minister whispered as Jeong Jeong's face wrinkled in one of his rare, slight smiles. "I'm glad."

Minister Jeong Jeong turned around. "I will give the command, then," he said gruffly and walked away with long strides.

---

Zuko didn't know how long he had been sitting inside his archive, now prison, when he heard faint sounds reach his ears and he slowly lifted his head, his weary eyes fixed at the great, stone doors. The sound grew louder. It seemed as if people were fighting outside. His breath hitched in his throat, as he realized his chance. Maybe…

Then the doors slowly opened, making a scouring sound upon making contact with the marble floor and a head was stuck inside the room. The young man's face sported a very moderate beard and mustache. "Zuko?"

Two blue eyes, so much like hers, wandered through the room and came to rest upon his form, halfway from standing up.

"Sokka!" Never before had he been so glad to see the goofy Water Tribe boy's face, and as he rushed toward the entrance Zuko pulled him into a tight bear hug, in a completely uncharacteristic act of affection.

"Oof!" Sokka grunted surprised and with a cough Zuko quickly let go of him again.

"Hotman, what are you doing in here?" Sokka asked as he stepped back and looked around. "This is not the time to sit around moping!"

Zuko looked down and saw the blood dripping on the floor from Sokka's gleaming sword. "I guess not," he replied with sincere relief in his voice. "But what, in Agni's name, are you doing here? And how… "

"Oh, we received a letter from a certain Earth Kingdom village leader," Sokka said lightly, his sharp eyes registering immediately when Zuko paled suddenly. "And we had reason to believe we had to check on you and Katara. You can explain yourself later…" he said mischievously, and then looked about. "Where is she, by the way?"

"She's not here," Zuko answered with a thick throat. "I… she… went to the North Pole alone, after we found my mother. I… had to stay…" He bowed his head, feeling the sudden pain of missing her surge through him, like never before. "I… don't know if she made it."

Sokka's gaze darkened for a moment as they looked at each other in worry. Then he mumbled: "She will be alright. I know it. So…" he changed the subject quickly, "you've found your mother, then?"

Zuko nodded wordlessly. "But your quest isn't over yet?" At this Zuko shook his head. "The rebels were attempting to steal the dragon's egg."

Sokka's eyes widened. Two years ago, when Zuko and Aang had returned from their visit to the Sun Warrior's Temple, they had told the others about the strange egg-like thing they had found in there, but back then, he hadn't paid as much attention to it as it had been much more fun pestering Zuko in the knowledge he had been unable to keep his hands off the object and nearly got them killed.

Now it seemed as though there was far more to this egg—as it appeared to be—than it had seemed after all. Again, he was reminded of the mystery surrounding Zuko and Katara's journey.

His eyes traveled to the clasp on Zuko's dark red, summer cloak. The gold of the metal gleamed softly in the torchlight, which accented the lotus form sharply. Zuko had a knowing expression in his eyes when Sokka looked up again. White Lotus.

"Then you mustn't lose any more time," Sokka said, stepping back from the entrance. "By the way," he then held him back for a moment and Zuko turned around. "You asked how…"

The Fire Lord nodded.

"You must know that we are here at the moment, fighting as it is, with both a large part of the Water Tribe forces and the entire Eastern Fleet to prevent the rebels from taking over." Zuko's eyes widened. 'How…?'

"The guards of the Royal Procession have just received command from your Prime-Minister and Minister Jeong Jeong to join our ranks as well," Sokka added. "However, when we landed we were told by two of the rebels about your situation. Their names were…"

"Chan and Ruon-Jian," Zuko for a moment closed his eyes as he processed the unexpected information. He had honestly been thinking…

Sokka nodded curtly. "I see that what they claimed is true then, you know them."

"I do," Zuko confirmed. "But now I have to follow one of the boy's father's, who is about to take control of my empire as we speak."

When he fled the dungeon, Zuko saw the streaks of blue that were Sokka as he backed him up.

---

The gentle breeze seemed to come out of nowhere caressing the grass and gently rippling the surface of the pond as the water's reflection created small dots of light on the frosted ceiling. A rustling sound broke the sacred silence and a lithe figure, dressed in a heavy silk robe peeking from under a dark blue velvet parka, slowly approached the pond. Her bare feet delicately sunk into the soft grass until she had reached the waterside.

Carefully, slightly, she leaned over and bowed to see her reflection in the water. White fur and gleaming curls, half of which were held up by a silver and sapphire hair comb, framed her wavering features. And underneath the fur a silver lotus clasp gleamed softly. The Chieftess had been really nice to her, she thought melancholically, by giving her the dresses which used to be her daughter's.

The Chieftess (and the Chief for that matter) hadn't wanted her to go back to the Spirit Oasis so soon after she had healed, as she had been hovering between life and death for a whole night.

Somehow though she felt she had to be there, to wait, no matter the faint feeling of weakness, reminiscent of her and Appa's accident.

And so she waited.

Her blue eyes followed the black and white Koi fish circling around in the pond perpetually, vaguely feeling the familiarity of the situation. There had been another moment, in another place, another pool of water. But the despair she had felt back then had been entirely different from the kind she was experiencing now. More hopeless.

Her fingers curled in the palm of her hand and she felt the ridges of a disheveled little paper press into her skin. Looking away from the Koi fish she opened her hand and straightened the paper. The message.

The Northern Water Tribe had found this paper on her when they had found her. It was a sweet rhyme about four loves, which looked like someone had given it to her to tell her something. Maybe… that he loved her?

Her heart involuntary skipped a beat and at that moment a hot, white light shot through her head. With a cry of pain she fell to her knees, grabbing her head with her hands, while the small paper drifted abandoned to the ground. But the hiss of her breath had not been out of pain. And as she tried to calm her irregular breathing she recognized the searing sensation of missing loss crashing into her with unimaginable force. She saw him in her mind's eye. Two golden, almond eyes set in a pale face, framed by messy black hair, only partially hiding the fierce scar. "Zuko," she whispered.

---

"A sandstorm!" Avatar Roku called loudly. "Quick, hide behind those rocks!"

Aang looked around frantically, following the fluttering red sleeve of his old predecessor. He pointed at the mountains behind them. Prince Lu Ten and the Monkey King were already climbing up and Aang could see Lu Ten's golden hairpiece shimmer before it disappeared from sight.

"Hurry Aang! Take Toph up there. The storm will be here in a minute!"

Wind and razor sharp sand started to whirl around the couple as Aang looked up again. There was something about these mountains that made him shudder, but his grey eyes widened in panic when he saw the storm rushing towards them in deadly speed. He didn't hesitate for another moment, but wrapped his arms tightly around Toph and directed the wind underneath them to the nearest cave.

"One moment longer and I would have taken a rock up here!" Toph spat at him when they landed unceremoniously inside the cave, their arms and legs entangled. The others were nowhere to be seen.

"I'm sorry, Toph," Aang mumbled, wiggling his arms and legs as he tried to reorient himself.

When he looked up, he felt a hot blush rush to his cheeks. In his haste to get them out of the sandstorm, he had catapulted them into this cave. Protecting her petite form with his body, he now found himself tightly wrapped around her, his face merely inches from hers. He could feel her breath tingle on his lips. His eyes were drawn to the adorable pink shades on her cheeks and her soft lips. His breath caught as he felt his heart speed up. Slowly, he untangled one hand and hesitantly touched her hair, for a moment closing his eyes as he felt the silky strands between his fingers, then his hand trailed her delicate cheek, cupping it with his slightly more tanned hand.

"I'm sorry, Toph," he repeated but for a whole different reason as he leaned in.

"Don't be," she whispered the moment before his lips touched hers. And then his lips were on hers, hesitant at first, but the intensity of the kiss grew quickly as he closed his eyes and felt Toph's small hands slide behind his neck. As the blood started to pound in his ears, he moved his lips over hers and felt his heart leap in joy when she parted hers slightly, deepening the kiss.

"Well, isn't this a pretty picture?"

They both shot up straight, heads snapping in the direction from where the velvety voice came from. Aang felt the little hairs in his neck prick and as his eyes searched the dark, he realized he recognized the voice.

"I wonder what it is what makes Avatars bring their loved ones to me," the voice chuckled and then Aang knew for sure. His nightmares on earth, whether or not they had been sent by the spirits, were coming true. He stood up and with only slightly trembling hands, shoved Toph behind him.

"Koh."

---

The capital city of Sozin, which had been so peaceful and quiet when he had entered the temple, had now turned into a fierce battlefield. Everywhere he looked, Zuko saw soldiers, both Fire Nation and Water Tribe, fighting with black cloaked rebels, which seemed to appear out of nowhere. He ducked away from a waterbender aiming his deadly blow on such a black cloaked figure as he ran past the palace grounds, for a moment allowing himself to worry about his mother's safety. He had told Sokka about her presence in the palace and the young man had understood. Now Zuko could only hope that some of the legends about the Spirit Princess were true and that she could handle herself until the Water Tribe had found her.

A rumbling sound descended upon the city as Zuko searched his way through the fighting soldiers, his heart bleeding for his city but knowing he had to go after Chan and Bujing if he wanted save his country. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he saw the walls of the crater looming before him and he looked up to see Admiral Chan and General Bujing exactly where he had expected them to be: at the small terrace before the entrance to the rumbling volcano behind the city. In between them they held the white gleaming egg.

His eyes narrowed grimly as he with determined movements sheathed his swords and started to climb, his fingers unerringly finding the small cracks in the wall.

A shudder went through the earth as the volcano rumbled and Zuko could barely hold onto the rough walls, pressing his body against the hot stone until the quake had subsided.

The rumbling volcano was starting to influence the weather and a stormy wind started to whirl around the crater of the city of Sozin as Zuko climbed higher. Burning dust flew around him, irritating his eyesight as it melted into his clothing.

***

The general and the admiral watched their war balloon burn inside the volcano as they had barely had gotten out of it and put the egg on the terrace. A satisfied smirk settled on their faces and they turned around.

Their eyes widened in shock; before them stood them a straight figure with drawn swords and an infuriated gaze in his golden eyes, the wind whipping his hair and clothing around him. He drew a circle of fire around him, fueled by the wind.

It was the Fire Lord.

---

**A/N:** _At first I want to thank all of you who reviewed previous chapter and sometimes aided me in my search for good Dramione fanfics. Thanks! I will look into those._

_Some of you have pointed out that the Taang needed some disturbance, but I'm also glad that most of you liked the story of Lu Ten. I've been feeling that his story needed to be told once and it provides a bit of background on Uncle Iroh's earlier days too. I hope that this chapter's a good start. To Toph-14 and Fire Storm Weaver I would like to say: I've been playing with the idea that Toph can actually see the things that are in the Spirit World, because she's not limited to her earthly disadvantages, but at the same time, she still can't see Aang, because he is, in contrary to the other companions, part of the living world. Sadly enough I didn't read Elfen Lied by the way, I just found the soundtrack on the internet and felt immediately drawn to it. To SnowCharms: hmm, maybe. After all, she does have nine helpers..._

_In this chapter I dealt with a lot of important stuff. The Water Tribe has arrived in the Fire Nation and they are not here to lynch the Fire Lord. Then, Zuko with some help from Sokka, got ready to face the two leaders of the rebels. He has to save that dragon's egg. Will he succeed? And Katara. The flight to the North Pole has taken its tol on her memory... But the most important part in this chapter to my opinion is Mai... She has let Zuko go. Finally, she realized that Zuko is not the man she had always held him to be, the one she thought to love. This realization is extremely important for Zuko. Now it's hoping that he will be in time to reunite with Katara at the North Pole._

_The music that inspired me this chapter, is again a piece from Nightwish, though an instrumental one, because it has exactly the level of drama and action, this chapter needed._

_Last but certainly not least I would like to thank my fantastic beta-reader Shrilaraune for helping me out with this chapter. You're absolutely brilliant!_

_Only 2 more chapters to go..._


	45. Awake

**A/N:** _It's been a while since my last update, for which I'm very sorry, but I really needed the time to make things come together in this chapter. I hope that after reading this chapter, you'll forgive me ;-)._

_The chapter you're about to read now, is the second last one, so it's a good moment to look back on the development of the story. I started this story as a somewhat mysterious one shot for Zutara Eternity on dA in the fall of 2008, so, basically, I never intended to continue this story. However, after getting some requests to continue, I decided it fun to create a story that would be driven by the Zutara Eternity prompts on dA, hence the incohorent chapter-titles. I was displeased with how the series had ended (which Zutarian wasn't!), the story started to develop itself around the foreshadowing, symbols and theories that the creators, knowingly or unknowingly, had put into the show. In a way, it's almost as if the story tries to prove them wrong. Now, it's been a year since and (almost) 45 chapters and more than 200.000 words later, I'm so very thrilled with the enthusiastic reactions at the story! A few statistics: during the process of writing this story, I've received more than 59.000 hits, 191 alerts and 161 favorites. It still blows my mind away.  
Of course, I'm anxious to share with you the final of the story, what you've been waiting for for so long, so without further ado, read about Zuko's fight with the General Bujing, Aang's confrontation with Koh and the Water Tribe fighting to defend Sozin!_

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 44: Awake**

Music: Within Temptation, Hand of Sorrow

Sokka looked up from the darkly cloaked figure, collapsing before him as he drew back his sword with a grunt. His eyes scanned the surroundings quickly, trying to oversee the situation at hand. After grueling fights with both the rebels and the Royal Guard, the Water Tribe Warriors now found themselves in the Fire Nation palace throne room, fighting to protect the Dragon Throne from the rebels.

Sokka couldn't help but feel a bit of melancholy about sweep over him at the site of the throne room. He remembered the last time he had been here, for Zuko's coronation ceremony. The fierce flames burning before the throne had almost completely hidden his friend from view. An impressive sight.

Now, with the Fire Lord absent, the throne was empty; the flames had died down and once again Sokka found himself in the Fire Nation raising his sword against yet another Fire Nation soldier, except that he was now holding in his hands the perfectly balanced Fire Nation sword that Zuko had given him, once the war had ended. The precious blade had belonged to Zuko's cousin Lu Ten and was a piece of art, displaying the finest Fire Nation sword making skills, simple in design but for the scaled body of a ruby eyed, golden dragon wrapped about the hilt. Lu Ten had borne it bravely once. In the past few years it had become as much a part of Sokka's identity as it had been a part of Lu Ten's; as he had become known as the Water Prince with the Dragon Sword. At its least the sword confused most of his opponents, leaving him openings in their defense to take advantage of.

As he glanced around, Sokka saw his men engaged in bitter combat with darkly cloaked rebels and the ornately dressed soldiers of the Royal Guard.

He frowned. The Guard had made it difficult to restrain the rebels, with their ferocity to protect the palace. A little ways off, Suki was fighting off both a Royal Guard and a rebel, her steel fans gleaming in the light of fire-balls. Noticing this, Sokka made a move to help her, only to be interrupted by an Eastern Fleet soldier's stepping in took over the rebel, not looking at the Royal Guard.

The alliance had stopped trying to reason with the Guard and now considered them collateral damage in their quest to secure the palace. Sokka sighed.

_Nonetheless,_ _it would sure make things a lot easier to pit three factions against the rebels…_

Sokka narrowed his eyes and took up a stance as another soldier of the Royal Guard appeared from behind a rebel's back, the Guard's face hidden behind the threatening, skull-like mask. Just as the long sword was about to hit, he ducked, whipped himself around and cut the mask from his opponent's helmet. It revealed a shocked face, as the man stumbled back.

"Very good. Always try to reveal your opponent's face. It's the mirror to his soul," a calm voice spoke up next to him. Sokka looked up with a start and saw Master Piandao nod at him approvingly as he, with no apparent difficulty, fended off an attack from a cloaked rebel.

"Master!" Sokka gasped, "I hadn't expected to see you here! What..."

"Patience, Sokka. My instincts warned me I was needed in Sozin and I wasn't incorrect." Elegantly, he spun around while whirling his sword and stopped the other attacker approaching him from behind.

"Your instinct or the White Lotus Society?" Sokka mumbled to himself, somewhat suspicious to himself; he was rewarded with his sword master's trademark smile.

At that moment a ball of fire was shot into the air, almost reaching the apex of the high ceiling, as it formed a giant sea hawk, followed by a burning version of the water tribe symbol. For a moment, Sokka lowered his blade, staring wide eyed at the emblem of his people arrayed in blazing fire.

"They've given the command," Master Piandao announced with a satisfied smile and Sokka watched in utter relief as the Royal Guard before him nodded once and turned his back on him, shielding him against an attack from another black cloaked figure. "From now on, the Royal Guard will fight alongside the Eastern Fleet and the Water Tribe."

***

The dark night sky colored red and gold as the fight for the city of Sozin resumed with renewed vigor as understanding of the new situation slowly sunk in with the rebels. Suddenly their numbers were met with bearded, seasoned Water Tribe warriors, black uniformed Eastern Fleet marine soldiers and the frightening, masked guards of the Royal Procession, their red and gold ceremonial uniforms averting attention from their elite fighting skills.

Hakoda allowed himself a small smile as he cast a glance at the far end of the throne room, where his son was doing his reputation as a famous blade master honor. Next to him Commander Jee allowed himself the same, terse smile.

"The tables are turning," the commander commented dryly and Hakoda nodded, relieved.

Only an hour before, they had been fighting outside the palace to prevent the rebels from entering and it had been quite a shock to the alliance when the rebels had managed to blow up the gates to the palace in an enormous explosion that shook the city of Sozin to its core.

"Aw man, Zuko's going to kill us! We can't even prevent them from destroying his house!" Sokka had cried in frustration as he charged forward, the soldiers and warriors of the alliance following him, with furious expressions on their faces.

Then, after what seemed like ages of running through endlessly long, marble hallways, they had entered an enormous space, which Hakoda immediately recognized by the empty, stately throne at the far end. It suddenly seemed vulnerable now that the flames, which normally hid the seat of the Dragon Kings from view, were dead in the Fire Lord's absence. Before the throne stood a large table for the Council of Ministers and it was from there Hakoda saw the old Prime-Minister stand up from his seat trembling, his hands raised in a calming gesture, whereas the Minister next to him remained seated, a proud and stubborn expression on his face.

'That must be Defense Minister Jeong Jeong,' Hakoda had surmised as a small smile ghosted over his lips. Zuko did choose his ministers well, he had to admit, feeling oddly satisfied with the boy as he warily nodded at Sokka. The rebels had been starting to surround the large table, dangerously drawing closer to the ministers, as they raised their hands to release a bolt of fire. The ministers' lives were on the line.

Together they had started to approach the ministers inconspicuously, glad to see Commander Jee and Suki follow their lead, as the Prime-Minister squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation. But the blow he expected never came. Warily the old man had opened one eye to see that Defense Minister Jeong Jeong had shot up from his seat, his fist extended in a fierce bending move. On top of that he suddenly saw himself surrounded by two Water Tribe warriors, a Kyoshi Warrior and Commander Jee of the Eastern Fleet.

"Chief Hakoda?" The Prime-Minister whispered in utter astonishment recognizing Hakoda. The warrior nodded at him, only a tad bit curt.

"Stay inside the circle," the Chief then ordered, "we'll fend them off."

A grim fight had ensued between the rebels and the alliance, a whirling chaos of black cloaks and streaks of red and blue weaving through it as swords gleamed in the flames of the torchlight.

As he watched the fighting scene before him, Hakoda now witnessed with dread that the rebels weren't easy to defeat, despite the fact that Royal Guard was now fighting on the side of the alliance. They were thoroughly trained and slowly but surely they managed to get to the throne with every bolt of fire they sent at the alliance. Hakoda looked up when Sokka for a moment appeared next to him, having freed himself from his attackers. The young man panted slightly and he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"This is going the wrong way!" Hakoda finally stated grimly at his son and stepped forward to approach the throne. "Let Suki cover me. I'm going up there!"

With a few long strides and neatly avoided attacks, Hakoda reached the throne, and then suddenly froze.

Staring down grimly on the fighting mess before and below, suddenly had appeared nine young men, clad in dark blue, with silky black hair gleaming in the light of the fire. Eyes ranging from golden to light brown flickered from one side of the throne room to the other as they positioned themselves between Hakoda and the throne.

Hakoda blinked, not understanding. "Who are they?" He finally demanded from his future daughter-in-law who suddenly sucked in her breath sharply.

"I've heard of them!" She hissed under her breath. "I thought they were part of a mere Earth Kingdom myth, a fairytale about the Spirit Princess who helps people in need. These are her helpers, nine vassals who have sworn an oath to protect her with their lives."

"The Spirit Princess?" Hakoda repeated not understandingly, but before he could dwell on that, the nine men had taken a stance and jumped into the fight, defending the throne with the agility and power of elite warriors. Hakoda allowed himself to feel a bit relieved as he turned around, seeing Suki already dashing away, off to help Sokka.

It was a moment in which the world seemed to come to a temporary stop; Sokka spun around and delivered a heavy blow to the rebel before him and Suki jumped in right behind him, unleashing the sharpness of her steel fans at yet another rebel approaching him.

It was the moment in which Hakoda saw Commander Jee and Defense Minister Jeong Jeong back to back, aiming fire-bolts at anyone daring to come near the fragile Prime-Minister; smoke started to fill the grand throne room as the few waterbenders in his train used their bending to extinguish the fire threatening to burn down the hall.

At that moment, the fluttering of white fabric near the Dragon Throne caught his eye and he slowly turned around his head, as a gentle, yet saddened voice said: "Enough."

The woman who had been speaking, hadn't raised her voice, nor had the noise of fighting subsided, but that one word reached into the far corners of the throne room. As if drawn to it, warriors and soldiers turned around to glance at the figure standing before the throne, looking down on the spectacle with a melancholy expression in her light-brown eyes.

When Hakoda's gaze finally reached her face, his breath caught in surprise. He recognized her soft eyes, set in pale features and framed by long, silky black hair.

Then she looked to her side and in a split second, her gaze crossed his and a ghost of a smile passed over her slightly surprised face.

It was her. The woman who had been carrying the fire into his palace. The Spirit Princess. Zuko's mother.

Hakoda watched in mute astonishment, as she turned back to the scenery before her and with that same gentle, yet unyielding voice asked: "Who's the leader of the rebels present here?"

She waited for what seemed like an eternity, motionless as her nine helpers stepped back from the fight and drew a protective circle around her, careful not to hide her from view.

They had done this before, Hakoda realized. The movement somehow unnerved him, as he felt a strange, ominous sense of foresight wash over him.

Finally, someone threw back his hood and stepped forward. "I'm leading the rebels in the throne room by direct orders of General Bujing himself," he stated proudly, his demeanor challenging.

"I see," the Spirit Princess only responded quietly. "And what exactly did he promise you," she let her gaze wander through the crowd for a moment, "all of you, for following his lead?"

"General Bujing offered neither gold nor valuables. He offered us the restoration of the grandness of the Fire Nation empire to its former glory!" A heated glance appeared in his eyes. "The glory that the Fire Lord took away from us, when he pulled back our forces from the conquered lands and gave them back!"

Several voices now were raised as well, rebels who expressed their approval of his words, but the Spirit Princess lifted one hand and the noise died down immediately. She looked down on the man sadly. "I understand you are angry with my son," she said and a wave of shocked gasps went through the crowd, upon hearing the Spirit Princess' soft words. Many soldiers from the Royal Guard and the Eastern Fleet bowed their heads in respect, while keeping an eye at their opponents. A small smile curled up the corners of Princess Ursa's mouth.

"But I wonder if this truly what you want." she continued thoughtfully. "If I may ask, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Her slightly husky voice was the only sound in the otherwise dead silent throne room as the crowd looked up at the slender, white figure standing before the Dragon Throne.

"If the Fire Nation were to return to its former violent supremacy, then in all likelihood they would be called upon to fight and die in the conquered areas, as were your uncles and aunts, your great-uncles and great-aunts before them. The Fire Lord has ensured that as long as he lives this will never happen to Fire Nation citizens anymore."

The man's face contorted as he listened to the princess' words. "My brother already died in the Earth Kingdom," he hissed bitterly. "I'm making sure that he didn't die for nothing!"

Ursa's eyes slightly widened at this, then filled with infinite sympathy. She motioned for her vassals to step aside and carefully approached the man, putting a hand on his shoulder. For a moment he succeeded in looking into her eyes, then lowered his gaze.

"I'm so very sorry that he died in this war, while he could also have been happy in the Fire Nation." Princess Ursa said quietly. "But he didn't die in vain; because of him, you can now live in peace. Do you think he would have wanted the Fire Nation to become an aggressive empire once more, for you to share his fate?"

The man hesitated for a second and Hakoda saw the hate in his eyes slowly make place for another emotion, one he clearly recognized as sadness.

"I suppose not," he then whispered barely audible. The Spirit Princess smiled and behind her, the vassals relaxed their stances. Then she looked up. "Are there any among you who wish to continue this fight?"

It seemed like a soft glow started to emanate from Princess Ursa as her gaze wander over the crowd before her. Hakoda's eyes slightly widened. The glow seemed to calm the rebels to the point that they lowered their weapons and slid out of bending stances, staring up at the unearthly woman before them in wonder.

She smiled once again and whispered softly: "I thought not."

Then her expression turned serious, even slightly grave as she said in a clear voice: "I am Princess Ursa of the Fire Nation, mother to His Majesty the Fire Lord and Princess Azula. Today I announce my return from banishment in the Earth Kingdom as I will take upon myself the responsibilities of Fire Lady-Mother. Let it be known."

Hakoda watched in awe she widened her arms and a brilliant, white light, quickly intensifying to an unbearable brightness illuminated the entire throne room, temporarily hiding the princess from view entirely.

Then, the Fire Nation citizens, soldiers and rebels, kowtowed to the ground as one, while while their Water Tribe counterparts, including Suki bowed their heads in respect. He raised his eyes when feeling a light brown gaze rest upon him as the faint figure within the light grew clear again. And with an appreciative half-smile he inclined his head.

The battle for the city of Sozin was won.

---

The door to the Spirit Oasis closed with a silent click as the Chieftess of the Northern Water Tribe left the sanctuary. Katara closed her eyes, feeling weariness prick behind them as she once again resumed her crossed-legged position and lay her hands on her knees, her palms turned upward.

The season of winter was approaching rapidly now and Zuko still hadn't showed up at the North Pole.

Worry for him mixed with desperation as it slowly dawned on her that it was almost impossible now for him to reach her on time. Meditation prevented her from going mad with the feeling of powerlessness, being here at the North Pole, having to endure the sympathetic gazes, waiting in vain.

She had been sitting like this for hours, meditating like Aang had taught her and as she had seen Zuko doing quite a bit; probably more often than he realized. As she closed her eyes and the blinding pain from delving into her memories subsided, she could recall those times in which she rose with the sun, to watch him quietly sit down in a corner of the Western Air Temple, or later during their journey wherever they were, wearing only his silk trousers as he concentrated on a row of burning candles before him. His eyes closing, he rearranged his breathing to an even, sleep-like rhythm and became perfectly still, but for the breathing controlling the intensity of the fire.

During those still moments, Katara had gazed at him, wondering how it could be that someone from a bending discipline as fierce and unpredictable as fire, could conjure up the patience to meditate for a few hours straight. One time, when they had been in the gentleman's lodging before their trip to Kyoshi Island, she had been on the verge of touching him, her curiosity from years ago resurfacing again. But she hadn't dared and she had silently let herself fall back into the cushions again, only to wake up when he opened the curtains.

Now the art of meditating held no secrets for Katara. Because of the meditations she could bear the stinging pain in her head when she evoked her memories. And it was needed.

One hand curled herself around a tattered piece of paper, as she once again, went over the familiar lines in her head.

Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall

Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall

Four seasons, four loves

Four seasons, for love

Iroh's note echoed through her mind: 'I present you with the task to understand the underneath described before the end of fall.'

A riddle they hadn't been able to solve up until now, but for a nagging feeling at the back of her mind that the truth was staring her right in the eye ever since they had translated the message.

Once, Katara had received a disturbing dream concerning this song and as she slightly bowed her head, she tried to sort out the memory through the haze of images of Zuko standing in the Ember Island Sea, his body covered with glistening water drops, a passionate kiss under the pale moonlight.

Katara shook her head, trying to focus on the song. She felt she owed Zuko to have the riddle solved before he would arrive and it took away her fears about him not reaching her on time. The sympathetic looks she got from the Chief and Chieftess made it all to harder on her and Katara was glad when she could retreat to the Spirit Oasis again, where it was easier to ignore the terrible insecurity eating at her resolve. Thankfully, they let her.

It was clear that General Iroh meant more with the song than simply asking for a translation. If that had been the case, the White Lotus Society would have been saved weeks ago. Katara sighed.

She had also suspected that the song had nothing to do with a search for Zuko's mother, a suspicion Zuko had shared, which had been the reason why solving the riddle hadn't been top on their priority list.

As Katara let the lines pass through her mind again, she felt that the song touched the core, the very essence of the reason why Grandmaster Iroh had sent them away together. And that's where the dream came in.

Images of that forgotten, unnerving dream finally resurfaced, as the mists shrouding her memories grew somewhat thinner. She saw the faces of Haru, Jet, Aang and Zuko pass before her mind's eye, all gazing at her with love in their eyes.

Holding on to the image, Katara took a deep breath and let the scent of the grass she was sitting in calm her as she took a closer look at the young men. Yes, it had been definitely love with which they looked at her, but as Katara let the images flood her, she noticed differences in their expressions.

Haru, the earthbender she'd freed from the Fire Nation prison, looked at her with friendly green eyes, his gaze warm with the slight edge of an undiscovered and undeveloped infatuation to it.

Jet, the Freedom Fighter, looked at her with clear and challenging flirtation in his dark eyes as he smiled his crooked smile.

Aang's eyes watched her with worshipping adoration and his face glowed with admiration and dependence.

Katara gritted her teeth; when Zuko's face once again came into view, she felt herself relax as she scrutinized the gaze in his golden eyes. A small smile quivered on her lips when she saw tenderness softening his fiery stare; wary respect combined with a burning passion to take her breath away.

She sighed heavily, breaking the spell that kept her to lingering on Zuko's face too long. Katara felt irritation rise once more. She knew that what she felt for Zuko, a feeling she had rediscovered in the past six weeks, was everything she never had and never would feel for Aang. So, what was the point of emphasizing that in the dream? When all it did was make the weight of her guilt that much heavier?

'Maybe it's a thing of great importance,' a soft voice sounded in the otherwise silent space and Katara shot up, eyes widened, but she saw nothing but the Koi fish peacefully swimming their never ending rounds. 'I'm going to help you. Close your eyes,' the voice murmured and before Katara could react, her eyes drooped and her chin fell to her chest.

When she had sunken away into unconsciousness, Katara heard the melodic voice whisper: 'dreams do not always tell the static stories we think they tell. Their meaning comes from the message behind, rather than the events happening…'

And as Katara felt herself drift toward that undefined place in the center of the dream again, she saw to her surprise, that the place already had been occupied by a pale young man with black, messy hair and with a scar disheveling his face, looking away from her as the faces of a few girls circled around him.

Katara recognized only two: those of Mai and herself. The other faces belonged to a sweet, trusting girl with compassionate, large brown eyes whose clothing indicated that she came from the western part of the Earth Kingdom and to a girl with unruly hair and excited, glistening green eyes.

'They're called Song and Jin and these girls have had a similar influence on Zuko as Haru and Jet had on you,' the voice whispered in Katara's ear.

For a moment, Katara felt an incredible jealousy flare up inside her, rebelling against the fact that Zuko had never told her about the girls and the voice chuckled. 'He has mentioned at least one of them… Do you remember his remark about how there's always a girl in Ba Sing Se…?'

'Jin,' Katara whispered as she looked at the goofy girl's face.

'Exactly, but don't jump to conclusions too soon. You don't know about the circumstances. His uncle set him up to the date and although the girl Jin was sincerely interested in Zuko, it was more in a flirty way… like Jet had been interested in you… She almost kissed him, though…'

'What about Song?' Katara cut off the voice and after a soft chuckle it softened. 'Ah, Song. See the look in her eyes? She's just as gentle as Haru is. Zuko met her when winter was past its prime and he was painfully confronted with the horrors of the war when she showed him the burn on her leg.'

Katara sighed understandingly, but then jerked up her head sharply. 'Did you say winter?'

The voice chuckled again. 'I did indeed… though technically it was very early spring. Nonetheless, it's time.'

Katara's eyes fluttered open, wide with shock as pieces of the puzzle slowly started to come together. She had always noticed that the young men in her life came from all of the other nations, except for her own, but she now realized that that was only part of the solution. It wasn't about the seasons they represented by nationality, but about the order in which they all had taken a piece of her heart, their importance increasing with every season that followed the start of her journey. Her gaze settled on the rhyme again, focusing on the season of winter.

Winter was the quiet season, the season of contemplation and of frail and stilled memories. It represented the moment in which she had met and bonded with Haru, the gentle and quiet earthbender who had been the first person she could relate to about the loss of her mother to the war, for he had lost his father for the same reason.

And what the mysterious voice said about that brown-eyed girl Zuko had met shortly after the first snowdrops had started to blossom, that Song? Katara stared at the crumbled piece of paper in her hands. She had showed him her burn on her leg, caused by Fire Nation fire. Katara closed her eyes as she understood. Caused by Fire Nation fire, just like Zuko's scar.

If Zuko's experience with Song was anything alike with hers, their connections with both Haru and Song created a first opportunity to face resurfacing and until then suppressed memories from the past. And they had left it at that. While she had been preoccupied with Aang and his mission to get to the North Pole, Zuko had been completely wrapped up in his quest to find the Avatar. The time hadn't been right.

Her eyes wandered over to the character representing spring. The season of renewal and birth, of fresh starts. And the season of spring flings.

The season in which Zuko had met with Jin in Ba Sing Se, while Katara had opened her heart to a boy named Jet for the first time in her life. A small smile ghosted over her lips as she thought about the fact that Jet and Zuko had actually had come to know each other and had befriended over a secret action of stealing food on board the refugee ship to Ba Sing Se, something that mysteriously had always pleased her enormously. It had somehow confirmed the many similarities she had silently begun to notice between them, but had also confirmed the difference between the two boys when it came to genuine care and understanding for her.

Jet had been interested in her, sure, just like Jin had been in Zuko. The connections had elicited some sparks, but their hesitant first steps on this path had also made clear that Katara and Zuko had been mere pretty faces to them, interesting because of a slumbering inner strength yet to be discovered, but not really understood.

Her finger slid to the season of summer. Katara sighed. The season representing growth, childhood memories, adolescence. The season in which Aang's love for her started to blossom and Zuko started to spend more time with Mai again after three years of banishment. With a small groan Katara closed her eyes, already understanding the similarities.

Her thoughts drifted back to the moment when she had been standing amidst the northern Earth Kingdom geysers as feelings of desperation finally engulfed her, the utter weariness, the tears.

Aang adored her, worshipped her. She knew that. To him, Katara's personality knew no flaws. She was the perfect picture of the perfect girl: gentle, beautiful, motherly. Her worries, her frustrations, her self-righteousness he didn't see or chose to ignore, smiling them away. In the past two years, Katara had subconsciously been trying to live up to the image his twelve year old mind had construed of her, slowly changing into a mere shadow of herself. It had brought her to the brink of utter exhaustion the day they received (she received!) that letter from General Iroh.

Over the past few years Katara hadn't seen much of Zuko and Mai, as they had been busy with their own lives, but she did remember the moments in which she had paused to observe the pair inconspicuously, when she thought nobody was watching. She had noticed the admiring way Mai's cold, grey eyes looked up at Zuko and sometimes she had heard the evasive tone in which she had dismissed any worries he tried to discuss with her. Which hadn't happened often. It seemed like Zuko had already given up on that one. Sometimes Katara thought she could recognize a certain weariness in Zuko's gaze as he looked at Mai. Most of the time though, Katara had averted her gaze quickly, scolding herself for the strange urge that constantly drew her eyes to the young Fire Lord and his girlfriend.

And she knew, feeling the pain of acknowledging it,that both Aang and Mai were in love with a mirage, childhood images of Katara and Zuko that didn't exist anymore, or, perhaps had never existed at all.

The last season mentioned in the song, had been fall. The season of experience, understanding, balance; the season to which all other seasons are building up. Katara closed her eyes, trembling as she hesitantly mustered the courage to acknowledge what she hadn't dared to touch upon before. The one person in the dream the puzzle hadn't led her to yet, the person who, in her dream, had her image fleeting around him as well, which had caused a jolt of electricity to course through her.

Memories resurfaced of the time she had been thrown into the crystal caves under Ba Sing Se with the boy who had been chasing them relentlessly. Memories of the moment he finally lowered his guard to her. And had not only put his trust in her concerning his most painful experiences but had suddenly, unexpectedly offered her a level of understanding she hadn't met with anyone until then.

Then, in the Western Air Temple he had silently endured all the bitterness she had spouted at him, providing her with a way to let out her frustrations, but the one thing she had never been able to forget had been the way his eyes lit up the moment she came to his room. He too remembered Ba Sing Se. But before that fragile bond, created in those caves deep underneath the city, could be renewed she had threaten him in the most severe way.

Katara now understood that with this death threat she had been acting on impulse, a motherly instinct to protect her child.

Her child.

And all he had showed was silent understanding. She let her head hang while squeezing her eyes shut in frustration.

Then, when she had needed to finally face her mother's killer, it had been Zuko who acknowledged her feelings, having faced his own father before, when all Aang had offered was some useless Avatar wisdom. It didn't matter that she acted out of revenge at first and Zuko did nothing to change her mind. What mattered was that he knew that she not only needed to close that chapter in her life, but also needed to decide for herself how to act on that; He had faith in her judgment, where Aang seemed to have none in her at all.

Then came the moment of the final battle against Azula…. that excruciating moment in which he jumped in the path of Azula's lightning bolt. It was in that moment that she should already have known what her heart tried to tell her, as she bowed over Zuko's unconscious body with tear streaked eyes, her hands to his chest to heal him. Her body had been wracked with the fear of losing the one person she could ever turn to, a safe haven amidst all of the expectations people were imposing on her.

Katara's heart now wrenched when she acknowledged the difference from the desperation she had felt when Aang had been shot out of the air by Azula, the savior of the world, in need of her guidance and protection on his way.

Her child.

"I'm sorry Aang, for misleading you so long," Katara whispered brokenly as tears flowed freely across her cheeks now.

During the past six weeks she had felt herself strangely revive when going on this journey with Zuko. Being long past the differences that separated them before, they quickly had become accustomed to each other's presence again and like a wilted flower Katara had sucked up the care and respect with which Zuko treated her during their travels, feeling free from being dragged all over the world by a pubescent boy, glad to offer support and understanding to the young man who had seemed to need it at much as she did.

And then it struck her. They were equals. Throughout their journey and even before, they had always worked together for the benefit of their cause, forming a strong team of complementing characters and beliefs: The father and mother of Team Avatar.

And despite them being proverbially opposites, fire and water, light and darkness, sun and moon, summer and winter, it had been the similarities between them which had brought them together to complement each other, the similarities in their loyal and caring nature, their strong bonds to their mothers, their painful pasts. That has been what, despite her own feelings of guilt toward Aang, the white lotus had been pointing at all along: her connection to Zuko rather than to Aang, even showing them both a future in which she was mother to the future Fire Lord, a firebender with blue eyes…

As daylight started to diminish in the sacred Spirit Oasis, another flash of blinding light shot through Katara's head and she grabbed her head in pain. The paper message whirled silently down to land on the grass. She groaned softly, knowing that the headache came from the memories which had been flooding her even since she solved the riddle. Trying to calm her thoughts, her attention was drawn to a bright light spilling through the film of her eyelids. She carefully opened one eye slightly and through her eyelashes Katara saw to her astonishment that the water in the Spirit Oasis was lit a mysterious blue.

'Put your hands in the water, Katara,' the soft voice suddenly spoke up again. 'You're a healer. Clear your head from the pain and help the ones you love.'

With difficulty Katara rose up, and crossed the last few meters to the waterside. The Koi fish still swam their never ending circles in the water, as Katara hesitantly spread out her fingers across the surface. Immediately, a soothing calm spread through her body, clearing the headache and she smiled a little when she looked at her reflection in the water. Then her eyes widened in shock.

In the reflection she saw the silver lotus clasp she still wore on her blue velvet parka starting to glow with a gentle silvery light, merging with the bluish glow of the water. As her heart began to race, Katara's hands started to shake, but she didn't dare pull her fingers out of the water. She kept her eyes trained on the surface, seeing it start to change suddenly. Gone were the Koi fish and the deep pool of blue water. In the blink of a moment, she was staring into fiery flames whirling around a person with gleaming dual broad swords in his hands. He was standing on a small cliff, together with two other men and a large, white object. In the background she could discern a volcano flowing over with magma and a Fire Nation city. She gasped. She was looking at Zuko.

---

"Whatever you do, don't look at him," Aang hissed as he shoved Toph behind him, composing his face to an emotionless mask in the process. Then he looked at the scorpion-like spirit before him, who wore his favorite face; a gentle, female Noh mask. "Koh, what are you doing here?" He asked, his voice too drained from every single emotion/drained of any emotion.

"My, my, so rude," Koh whispered, as he quickly approached the young Avatar, his many feet making a sickening clicking on the stone underground. "The question is not, 'what am I doing here', but rather, 'What are you?' Didn't you seek me out, again?" He shot up straight and the face of a melancholic man with a long moustache stared at Aang from the frames of the winding body.

"I wasn't aware that I was seeking you out, Koh," Aang replied coolly. "I'm here because a sandstorm outside made us look for shelter, while we were merely passing on our travel through…"

"To seek me out!" Koh hissed as he changed his face to that of an angry man. "Or have you not been meaning to find a way to end your nightmares!"

Aang felt Toph flinch behind his back and he prayed silently that she wouldn't look up. For the first time ever, he wished that Toph had not regained her eyesight while being in the Spirit World. It would have protected her from the Face Stealer.

"Do you have the solution then, Koh?" Aang asked with that strange, even voice. The ancient spirit let out a low chuckle and retreated somewhat. "You suddenly wish I have, now don't you?" He whispered seductively. "Not so resilient anymore, are we now?"

Koh cast a glance over Aang's shoulder. The young man stiffened and squared his shoulders to shield Toph. Once again, Koh's face changed to the face which face slightly resembled a certain Water Tribe girl he hadn't seen for weeks now. He flinched slightly at the realization.

The sweet yet sad face of Ummi stared at him and smiled. "So young and so full of love," Ummi's lips whispered at him as the scaled body whirled before him. "But with all the wisdom of his previous lives, the Avatar cannot see who it is, his heart belongs to."

Koh laughed bitterly. "And now he comes here and asks for my help," he said, ignoring the fact that Aang hadn't actually done that. In the blink of an eye he brought his face to Aang's again. "What do you expect me to do, Avatar? The dreams that have been haunting you and the earthbender are sent to you by the elemental spirits themselves. Do you think I have any power against them?" He scowled at the idea and his face changed to that of a baboon.

"I know you do," Aang responded quietly. "You're about the most ancient spirit in here and I think you know exactly why these dreams are haunting us and how we can get rid of them."

"Very trusting, very trusting," Koh said softly. "And in a way… true."

He turned his back and retreated, mumbling to himself, when suddenly without warning he wound himself around Aang and positioned himself in front of Toph.

For a moment Aang lost his composure and gasped in dismay, but before he could turn around, a small hand grabbed his. "It's alright, Aang," Toph mumbled.

"Indeed it is," Koh pouted disappointedly, "you've warned her. That's not fair."

A relieved sigh escaped Aang, though he knew that he hadn't actually warned Toph and wished he had as he remembered his nightmare in which Toph stared at him with a blank, featureless face.

Koh chuckled softly to himself. "Alas, no face from another Avatar's sweetheart for me today. Although… one can never be certain…"

A shaking of the earth suddenly made Aang sway on his legs and before he knew what happened, the ground sank away from underneath his feet. The sandstorm which had been outside, immediately was all around him, whipping his clothing while the sand cut into his skin like thousands of razors.

The hand holding his was gone. In panic he turned around and he stumbled back in shock. He was standing on a rock somewhere in the mountains where the travelers had been before, but the desert which had seemed so far away had suddenly come much closer.

And in the desert, with her feet sinking away while she held her pale eyes turned to the mountains in horror, stood Toph.

"Toph!" Aang shouted as panic washed over him. He wanted to jump off the platform, when a scaled body winding around him, held him back.

"You were wrong about one thing," he heard Koh's voice next to him, surprisingly clear through the raging storm. "I don't really know, nor do I care why the elemental spirits cared to place these dreams on you. But I do know that if you want to save the girl you love, you have to make a choice. You have to wake up. The only one who can end these dreams, is you. Choose right and you will get out of this safely, choose wrong and she will sink into oblivion forever."

"No!" Aang shouted, but only a soft, echoing laugh was his answer and he knew he was alone. Koh had left him. He squinted his eyes against the storm raging around him, trying to focus on Toph in the desert; he heard her faint voice, carried by the wind, calling for him. She was in very great danger.

Desperately, he looked around for something that he could use as a glider and found a scrawny branch sticking out of the rocky wall behind him. With force, he pulled it loose and pulled out his shirt to create the wings. Then, without thinking jumped off the cliff. For a moment, he felt the branch tremble above him, then he gritted his teeth and used all of his bending power to direct the wind underneath him.

The desert drew nearer faster than he had ever imagined when standing in the mountains just then. Coughing, he landed and looked around. Then he recognized where he was. The Wan Shi Tong Desert. Toph was wandering around, just like in his dream, inescapably walking toward the sinking library, her petite form but a shadow in the roaring sandstorm. She tried not to, changing directions as she looked around for help, her pale eyes wide with fear, but somehow her steps always led back to the grand library. And as waves of guilt washed over Aang, he remembered the last time they had been in a similar situation. He had been outraged with her for not taking care of Appa, while she tried keeping up the library. Now, she was being washed away by that very library. But he wouldn't let that happen. With a grim expression, Aang clenched his hand around the branch and yelled: "Toph! I'm coming for you!"

To his relief he saw Toph turn her head toward the where the sound of his voice came from, her face lighting up, but never stopping her walk toward the library.

"Toph!" He shouted, causing her to turn her head again. "Turn around. Follow my voice!"

He rushed forward, trying to catch up with her, only to discover that the distance seemed to increase with every step he took. Then Toph's voice reached him, feeble in the wind. "I… can't… Aang… Must walk… Aang… Help…"

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes filled with horror as he watched Toph approach the library, her form unwilling but driven by a force, greater than her own. Then branch in his hand snapped, when he threw his head back and yelled: "What do you spirits want of me?! Why are you doing this to her?"

He waited for what seemed like an eternity, than a soft chuckle reached his ears. 'I believe we already told you what is needed from you, Avatar…'

Aang looked around in bewilderment but saw no one. "What do I have to do? I'll do anything to save her. Please, tell me what you want of me?"

'Anything… I wonder…' the voice whispered in his ear, a soothing sound amidst the thundering sandstorm. 'She has become dear to you, hasn't she, Avatar? Your earthbending teacher, who always knows how to bring out the best in you with her infallible understanding of you.'

"Yes, yes, she has become dear to me," Aang cried, the tears now flowing from his eyes as his gaze followed in horror how Toph was being pulled into the library. 'Please, let her go. She has nothing to do with this.'

'On the contrary, Avatar. She has everything to do with it. Tell me Avatar, what is it you like about her?'

"She… she…," he choked, not being able to argue the necessity of the questions anymore. "She makes me laugh, she puts me in my place, ruthlessly, and she… she understands my uncertainties and for as far as I know, I am the only person who's allowed to comfort her when she feels sad… she makes me want to protect her with all I can…" His voice trailed away in the sound of the wind whirling around him.

'I see,' the melodic voice quietly responded, 'and whom exactly are you referring to, Avatar?'

"What?!" Aang shouted, turning around furiously to see where the voice came from.

'You heard me, Avatar. Who were you talking about? It's a simple question, but it needs an honest answer, for the earthbender's sake.'

"Of course I am talking about…" He yelled, but fell silent when the meaning of the words sunk in.

'See, young Avatar, for the salvation of the White Lotus Society and the peace on earth, I need you to think about your answer very thoroughly. What is it that you love about this earthbender and what is it that makes you cling to the waterbender?'

Aang remained silent as tears kept streaming from his eyes, making wet tracks on his white dusted face. Toph had almost reached the library.

His thoughts went back to what he had just said and inwardly he knew who it applied to. And it wasn't the person he had been with the past two years. Her face drifted before his mind's eye, melancholic, guilty and tired, the way he was used to by now. With a sharp pang in his stomach he suddenly remembered how she had been before the ending of the war: a bit overprotective but always full of joy. He remembered that it seemed like the thing she liked to do most was bossing him and Toph around, and the thing they had liked to do the most was trying to avoid it. A sinking feeling in his stomach foreshadowed the realization before it hit him.

'_What makes you cling to the waterbender?'_

'_The Water Chakra is the chakra of pleasure and is blocked by guilt…'_

He bowed his head, clenching his hands to fists. Suddenly he saw with perfect clarity the nature of his feelings for Katara. Feelings, developed by a twelve year old, having been raised by monks without the warm presence of a mother, who had started to lean heavily on this figure that always encouraged him to do what he was destined for. Who was _raising_ him to maturity. Thinking back on all those moments in which she had supported and appraised and encouraged him, he started to wonder when he had done such a thing for her in return. He knew the answer almost immediately. _Never_. Because to him she was the image of perfection watching over him, the spirit, The Painted Lady: A mother.

He groaned in pain as he let himself fall onto the sand, his head in his hands.

'Don't feel guilty, Avatar. It blocks your second chakra. You were all very young and feelings are easily misunderstood then. But you do know that the kind of support and understanding you'll be wanting and be needing to give, you have only given to Toph Bei Fong,' the soft voice again spoke up next to him.

Aang didn't respond, his resolve forming as his grey eyes stared into the distance. Then he stood up, determination radiating from his chiseled features as he decided it was time to allow the warm and deep feelings he had been harboring for Toph to take over; it was time to grow up. "I understand what the spirits are asking from me," he then said with a clear voice. "And I'm ready to let go."

He closed his eyes.

'Thank you, Avatar,' the voice then whispered. 'Then I hope Katara will do the same…'

Aang's eyes opened wide immediately. "What are you saying?"

The voice had a sad edge to it when it responded. 'You have let Katara go, when you realized your true fate lies with Toph Bei Fong, but that isn't enough. Katara has been traveling for six weeks with Zuko of the Fire Nation now, but has yet to acknowledge her true fate lies with him. Do you remember the prophecy about the great romance she's destined for, Avatar? The prophecy has never meant you and the waterbender. In order to save the White Lotus Society, In order for there to be peace on earth, a great romance is blossom between two representatives of the most opposite nations in the world: fire and water. Only White Lotus Society members know that the prophecy has specified the former waterbending and firebending teachers of the Avatar who has saved the world. The season of fall has almost come to an end, Avatar, and the Water Princess is waiting at the Spirit Oasis for the Fire Lord to arrive, but he's delayed in his fight against the rebels who have kidnapped the egg of the dragons, thus risking the future of the nations. There she is, Avatar. Do you see her? She's looking at you and at her one true love, Zuko of the Fire Nation.'

The voice trailed away and as Aang frantically looked around, he saw the vague silhouette of the waterbender's face in the air above Toph, sinking away in the sand.

Horrified he started to run for her, hoping in vain that with him letting go of Katara, she might come in his reach. But like before, the distance only increased. "Toph!" He shouted, but she didn't even look up anymore, already too far out of reach.

Then he looked up at the sky, to Katara's face, the horror in her eyes mirroring his as she looked at him. And something different: guilt. He suddenly understood.

"Katara!" He then shouted, not knowing if she could hear him, but too desperate to not try. "Katara! Please, let go of me. I beg you. Let me save Toph. I love her. Let go of me. Don't feel guilty. Please…" his voice choked, the lump in his throat preventing him from shouting any longer as he bowed his head in tears. "It's alright…"

---

Despite the dark of night, Zuko felt the surreal sensation of a searing hot wind whirling around him. He narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of the two rebelling nobles, pushing the dragon's egg toward the edge of the volcano. Then the nobles looked up and a horrified expression contorted their features when they saw Zuko standing on the platform as well.

"Step aside from the egg!" He shouted at the nobles, and the next moment Zuko jumped for them and whirled his gleaming swords, while pulling the fire with him in fierce fire-whips. "You don't know what you're messing with!"

This provoked a scornful laugh from General Bujing as his fist shot out and threw a swift and dangerous fire-bolt at Zuko, who only barely managed to extinguish it.

"Do you even know yourself, White Lotus boy?" He sneered, sending another bolt of fire at the Fire Lord, only to see it get split.

Zuko ignored his answer, scanning the surroundings, as he tried to find a way to attack without endangering the egg. Then he advanced, determined to end this, whirling around fire and swords in perfect harmony as the rebels stumbled back in astonishment. It had been clear that they still underestimated the skill of the firebender before them, relying on the image of the thirteen year old boy being taught a lesson by his father they had of him.

The edge of the platform came dangerously close and Admiral Chan grabbed a nearby dead branch to keep himself and General Bujing from tumbling over the edge. The Fire Lord showed no sign of distraction, he simply attacked, his movements fluent and deadly.

A deep, threatening rumble in the volcano behind the terrace suddenly shook the earth, when a searing hot rock, glowing like embers, fell down on the terrace. With deadly speed it rushed through the air and Zuko ducked away just in time, the stone missing him only by an inch. Swaying, he quickly regained his balance, but it was all General Bujing needed. A smirk lit up his wrinkled features as the jumped for the egg.

As magma started to stream out of the volcano behind him and clouds of black dust and burning stone filled the air with poisonous vapor, Zuko turned around, his eyes widened in horror as the general laid his hands on the egg, only one jump away from throwing it over the edge and into the volcano.

At that moment, the red and grey air whirling above the egg seemed to change and a soft, bluish glow started to emanate from the gold lit clouds. Mesmerized Zuko's eyes rested upon the spectacular sight as the clouds suddenly parted and a face appeared in the sky. A jolt of electricity shot through Zuko's stomach as he recognized her. Katara.

She was dressed in rich Northern Water Tribe robes. A brilliant silver glow coming from the lotus clasp on her parka made her tan face pale like the moon and her gentle, blue eyes deep as the ocean. She seemed to lean over, her hands disappearing from sight and her eyes were looking at him in dismay. There was no doubt that she saw him.

"Katara!" Zuko whispered, his heart leaping in joy at seeing the waterbender. He had missed her so much. Those gleaming curls, framing her high cheekbones, the depths of her ocean blue gaze. He didn't wonder how it was that he could see her face. He just drank in her beautiful features as he took a step forward.

At that moment another gleam caught his eye, bright and golden like the sun adding to the silver light, softly at first but with quickly growing intensity. It took him a moment before he realized, it came from the gold lotus clasp on his own cloak.

It was like the clasp recognized the presence of the silver piece in the clouds. A calming feeling passed through Zuko's body with the intensifying glow and his head was cleared of all anguish and confusion. Suddenly remembering his aim, he narrowed his eyes as his gaze shifted from Katara's face to the general and admiral now both holding the egg, turning towards the volcano.

"Let go of the egg, General," Zuko heard himself say with a clear, demanding voice as he subconsciously slid into a stance. He was well aware of Katara's eyes following his moves and somehow that only strengthened him more.

"Or you will do what?" The General bit back, rolling over the egg once. Zuko's jaw set as he stepped forward. "I advice you strongly not to roll that egg again, or the consequences will be yours." His voice was low and threatening as he spoke the words.

Somehow, the dangerous glint in his eyes, made the General hesitate, as his certainty wavered. Then Bujing looked up at the magma streams flowing from the volcano freely now and the bitter line of his mouth tightened when he bowed forward for another, last push against the egg.

---

Katara watched in horror, her hands still in the water, as the general made a movement toward the egg again and Zuko took a stance, his expression murderous, while Aang looked up at her, his gaze begging for her to let him save Toph who was drowning in a Spirit World desert.

A heartbreaking sob escaped Katara at seeing all the anguish and pain, and not being able to do anything about it. She couldn't go into the Spirit World to help save Toph and she couldn't go back to the Fire Nation and aid Zuko in his life-threatening quest to save the dragon's egg.

'Ah, but is it true you can't do anything?' The soft voice suddenly spoke up. 'Look at them, then ask them if there isn't a way in which you can help them.'

Katara's gaze flashed between both sceneries in the water, seeing both Zuko's concentrated and Aang's desperate features, she finally knew what to do.

She closed her eyes and with trembling lips she opened her mouth, whispering: "Aang, I let go of you." A feeling of enormous relief suddenly washed through her lower back, as a tension she had only felt subconsciously for the past two years, lifted and disappeared. She shuddered under the sensation and watched with eyes glistening from tears as Aang looked at her and mouthed silently: 'thank you,' before rushing for Toph, disappearing out of sight.

Katara averted her gaze to the other, fiery scene and watched as the gleam from Zuko's golden lotus clasp started to gain intensity, when she looked at him, feeling free from the guilt which had been blocking her second chakra for so long. She finally allowed herself to see to see the deeper meaning behind the song. Four seasons, four loves.

Smiling a small smile, heavy from emotion, she stared intently at the young man in ripped clothing, holding his Dao swords, ready to attack the rebels threatening to destroy the peace in his country. As a warm feeling started to spread through her whole body, she allowed the feelings which she had been suppressing for so long to finally fill her heart, adding to the glow on both their lotus clasps. And with the realization of her one true love, Katara finally whispered: "Zuko, I love you."

Then everything around her turned black and her hands lost contact with the water, but it didn't matter for Katara knew she had finally awoken.

---

Zuko's eyes had hardened with pure but controlled outrage and his hand pointed to a point behind the general, when he suddenly felt a warm feeling fill his heart and the glow on his chest intensifying to a brightness he had never witnessed before. He looked up and saw Katara's eyes gazing down on him with the softest of looks, before disappearing behind the clouds again.

His heart skipped a beat, then a bolt of the clearest, whitest lightening he had ever created—anyone had ever created—shot from his index finger, hitting the volcano behind the general with crashing force. At that moment the volcano exploded in a roaring eruption, creating a storm of electricity that whirled around the three persons on the terrace. Devastating earthquakes then shook the ground to the core. Admiral Chan was whirled over the edge, landing on a lower platform where he lay still, unconscious. When he saw his accomplice disappear from view, General Bujing's eyes widened in pure fear. Another violent earthquake made him lose his balance and with fluttering robes he stumbled back. His wrinkled eyes had a look of utter disbelief when he fell over the edge, seeing at last the young Fire Lord putting his hands on the egg, his cloak billowing as magma streams swirled behind him. With a ghastly scream he disappeared within the depths of the Sozin Crater.

At that moment a blinding light shot from the palace in the city below, setting the surrounding area in a brilliant, white glow.

Zuko felt an indescribable gratitude wash over him when he positioned himself next to the dragon's egg, preventing it from rolling toward the erupting volcano any further.

He rolled the egg somewhat closer to the center of the terrace, then turned around to look at Katara once more, but her face had disappeared. Instead, the magma coming from the volcano had now reached the small terrace he was standing on and his eyes widened in shock as he saw the searing hot molten stone whirling toward him at enormous speed.

He closed his eyes, knowing there would be no escape from this position. He had saved the egg from the rebels, but had neglected save himself and the egg from the volcano. Everything was going to end now. The White Lotus Society, the peace in the world… it had all been for nothing.

His one brow furrowed as he thought about Katara, his beautiful Katara waiting for him at the Spirit Oasis, leaning over the pond while looking at him with an expression of pure love in her eyes. He had waited for so long to see that.

She would wait forever.

As the magma was drawing near, the scorching heat had already reached his leather boots. Then Zuko was suddenly overwhelmed by the stinging sensation of sharp objects grabbing him by his shoulders, penetrating his skin and drawing blood as they took a hold of him. A streak of blue caught his eye. The last he saw was the egg being grabbed as well.

Something wet and cooling landed on him, drenching him within a minute. He had only a moment to realize it had started to rain. Then everything went black.

"Zuko? Zuko, wake up. Please, Zuzu, my boy."

A sweet, somewhat husky voice reached his ears, pulling him back from horrifying dreams about dragon's eggs, volcanos and faces of Katara everywhere.

"Zuzu?" He complained subconsciously, hearing his voice crack in an awful way. A low chuckle came from above him and he opened one, protesting eye.

"Yes, sweetheart. Wake up. You have to go see Katara immediately."

At the mention of her name he shot up, eyes wide. "Katara!"

When he turned around his head, he noticed that he was lying on a mattress and his mother sat beside him. His slow brain registered that she wore red instead of white and that a gold flame adorned her topknot.

She smiled at him, smug about his confused gaze but not completely succeeding in keeping the worry from her face. He tried to smile back and move but winced when he felt the soreness in his body, especially his shoulders.

Then everything came back to him. The rebels being defeated, the egg, the magma, his wondrous rescue.

He looked at his mother but was distracted by his reflection in the mirror behind her. A look of confusion for a moment added to the complete bewilderment he felt. He was wearing Fire Lord robes, dark red against his pale skin and his hair had been pulled back again, a gleaming flame hairpiece crowning his topknot. On his chest gleamed the gold lotus clasp.

"I had let you washed and clothed, befitting the Fire Lord, while you were unconscious. I won't allow you to go see the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe wearing those rags."

Wrinkling her nose at the idea, Fire Lady-mother Ursa leaned forward and pinched his cheek, causing him to flush in embarrassment. Smirking she helped him up, supporting him when he winced again. "The soreness will pass, my boy. Now it's time you see who saved your life."

Hesitant at first he took a few steps, then the protest in his muscles died down and Zuko could move more fluently again, despite the heavy robes.

When they reached the courtyard his mouth fell open in astonishment. There, on the grand square before the palace stood one of the most magnificent creatures he had ever seen but never had expected to see in the city of Sozin: the blue dragon of the Sun Warrior's Temple, standing next to the gleaming white egg, his wings folded against his enormous body.

Ran.

… Or Shao.

The dragon that had saved his life, by picking him and the egg from the terrace and wounding his shoulders in the process.

The blue creature stood alone on the courtyard, the soldiers and warriors waiting at a safe and respectful distance and turned its enormous, white bearded head toward Zuko when he entered the square.

Zuko felt his mother letting go of him and for a moment stood still to stabilize himself. Then he clasped his hands together and made a deep Fire Nation bow, as gratitude shone in his golden eyes.

The people surrounding the Fire Lord and the dragon were dead quiet as they watched the most symbolic encounter of the past hundred years, since Fire Lord Sozin, Zuko's ancestor had advocated the hunting and killing dragons for glory.

Now the new Fire Lord, the young man who had already brought them peace two years ago, bowed to one of those ancient, holy creatures that was believed to only exist in myths.

The rebels, standing amidst the soldiers and Water Tribe Warriors trembled and bowed their heads as well.

Nobody heard it when Zuko then took a step closer to the blue dragon and whispered: "Will you take me to Katara? With you I have chance of making it, before the end of fall."

The dragon looked at him with its fiery gold eyes and growled before nodding slowly.

A look of utmost relief passed over Zuko's face as the giant body of the dragon shuddered and the beast lowered himself to the ground. A gasp went through the crowd, then Zuko with a swift movement swung himself onto the dragon's back, wincing only slightly.

He looked down; his eyes searching, came to rest upon Sokka's old sword master. "Master Piandao, I would like to ask you to watch over this egg until the red dragon comes and retrieves it. Guard it with your life."

The bearded man nodded and made an inconspicuous bow of the white lotus as another person, clad in light blue, positioned himself next to him, his normally goofy gaze serious. "I will do so too. Now go find my sister, Zuko. Dawn's almost breaking."

A small, grateful smiled appeared on Zuko's lips and he turned to face the dragon's neck. "I will be returning very soon," he said, bowing his head, then grabbed the gleaming scales before him, an image reminiscent of the days of old when tales told of the splendor of the Fire Nation where fierce and proud Lords flew the magnificent dragon.

And as the first rays of sunlight reached across the horizon, the blue dragon and the Fire Lord rose to meet the sky, on their way to the Northern Water Tribe Spirit Oasis.

---

**A/N2:** _At first I want to thank my beta **Shrilaraune** for the absolutely amazing speed with which she has read and commented on the chapter, while she hasn't got constant acces to the internet. Thanks girl, you're the best!_

_Then, I would like to thank all of you who have reviewed. I was so glad with the absolutely positive reactions (I always love those lengthly reviews!) on the romance, the action, the events happening! I'm so glad you liked it and since Chapter 44 is pretty much as action-packed as the previous one, I hope you will like this one too. A few of you asked about Katara's condition. It's like this: when she got into that blizzard, she fell off Appa and hurt herself. When recovering in the Spirit Oasis, Katara experiences headaches every time a memory resurfaces. Kagome1235 asked how big my chapters are: well, when I started this story, the chapters were about 1000, 2000 words at the most, but as I got used to writing again (hadn't done that since my childhood days, ugh, I sound like a granny!) and the story became more complicated the amount needed rose too. My average for most chapters has been somewhere between 5000 and 7500 words I think, though the last few chapters have indeed been around 9000 words, or, like the last one: over 11.000. It's not something I try to achieve though, I've been merely wanting to tell the story and the words follow. I often have to rethink if they're really needed._

_Moving on to this chapter: this is the chapter in which Katara finally discovers what the meaning is behind the song Uncle Iroh wanted her to understand. The theory is by Sunstruck-Nymph on dA and I used it to tell my story. Awake is the Zutara Eterntiy prompt I used and it underlines how Katara and Aang finally have woken up._

_The song Hand of Sorrow by Within Temptation perfectly fits this chapter I think, because of the beautifully intense melody but also because of the lyrics. They are Zuko with the only difference that Zuko can choose for both his duties to his country and the true love of his life._

_Next chapter will be decisive for the future of the White Lotus Society as Zuko has to arrive at the North Pole on time. Can they save the Order and have the great romance they are destined for? Be sure to read the final chapter of Fall of the White Lotus and the epilogue (surprise!) which will be posted directly after the final chapter._


	46. Opalescent

**A/N:**_ So here it is: the long awaited final chapter of Fall of the White Lotus, followed by the epilogue. The chapter in which Zuko and Katara have to save the White Lotus Society or otherwise it will face its doom, Aang fights to save Toph and everything will come to its conclusion. I hope you enjoy the ending of Fall of the White Lotus!_

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Chapter 45: Opalescent**

Music: Ilan Eshkeri, Shooting Star/Coronation (Stardust)

Zuko leaned his head against smooth scales, feeling the cool of the air penetrating the skin of his cheek, as streams of air whistled by his ears. The dragon cut through the air like a bolt of lightning, faster than Zuko could have ever hoped for, faster than a bird, faster even than Appa. When the dragon made a turn and dived toward the ocean, only to go up again, he lowered his face for air. A smile broke across Zuko's tense features as a tingle of excitement shot through him.

_He could get used to this._

Just beyond his sight the opalescent full moon made way for the rising sun; they had until nightfall to reach the North Pole.

The dragon seemed to sense his thoughts, when a low rumble went through his body and with a low rumble quickened its gait. Below them ice flows began to appearing in the steel grey ocean.

With winter approaching, lights were lit early in the crystal houses of the Northern Water Tribe. Outside, the gentle coolness of summer was being replaced by the bitter cold of winter, but behind the high fortress walls, which the Fire Nation had never been able to penetrate, warm fires crackled in the hearths.

The night promised to be a silent one; cold, dry and starlit as the light of full moon sparkled gently in the snow below. With a bored expression on his tan features, the guard on top of the walls looked up at the sky out of habit, searching for the constellation of Ursa Major, when a flash of darkness passed before the moon. Surprised the man straightened himself and blinked, but the moving spot he'd seen had disappeared out of sight.

Shaking his head, he wondered how many hours until the next changing of the guard, then a low growl broke through the silence of night, echoing between the walls of the city.

The guard flinched and hesitated only a split second before he ran for the large, copper emergency bell. As the lonely sound echoed across the icy city, a strange wind started to whirl around the main square, blowing the powdery snow into the air. A giant silhouette then lowered itself onto the ground.

The guard heard the gasps of the people who had come out of their houses as the Chief and Chieftess leaned over the railing of their balcony, staring down in shock.

Flapping his enormous wings for the last time, the creature folded them against his body and the haze of powder snow whirled down again.

A wave of muffled cries went through the crowd as the enormous, mysterious form became clearer, revealing gleaming blue scales, fiery yellow eyes and rows of razor sharp teeth in a large muzzle. It was a dragon.

The crowd started to pull back from the frightening sight, when someone suddenly shouted: "There's somebody up there!"

At that moment warriors of the Royal Guard pushed themselves through the crowd, and with brisk strides the Chief approached the dragon through the lane they created. His expression was wary, though not frightened.

Before the exotic beast he stopped and regarded the now still creature.

A flash of red sliding from the blue dragon's back caught the Chief's eye and the next moment, a young Fire Nation man, dressed in dark red robes approached him. He seemed cold, but not frozen, his skin only slightly paler than usual as he bowed respectfully to the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe. His golden hairpiece gleamed in the moonlight.

"Fire Lord Zuko," the Chief spoke slowly, his normally cool gaze somewhat softened with relief. "A rather spectacular arrival. You don't have to explain. Please, follow me."

Zuko had never imagined a stern and stately man like Chief Arnook running through the icy corridors of his palace, but was grateful for the surprising speed in which they rushed past torches, precious furs and tapestries, as the full moon rose to its highest point in the sky. There were only ten minutes left before fall would make place for winter.

***

It had been one of the most dangerous hours in Zuko's life when the blue dragon had sped up to its maximum speed, forcing itself to the absolute limits of his capacities as the sun lowered in favor of the full, rising moon. Zuko had pressed himself against the smooth body, holding on for dear life, as they reached the eternally frozen parts of the northern seas, the snowy plains passing underneath them with sight-blurring speed. He had raised his body temperature against the stinging cold, hoping that he could manage to keep up the extra effort before getting hypothermic from exhaustion. He briefly wondered how in Agni's name Katara could have coped with it and worry about her took over his thoughts, stronger than ever before.

As the moon rose higher and higher in the east, Zuko finally had beginning to discern small, weak lights on the horizon and the blue dragon rumbled in what sounded like an elated way, mirroring the ecstatic feeling suddenly rushing through Zuko's body. His inner fire, weakening with every minute of the night's advance, told him there was still time left until the turning point would be reached.

At that moment, the dragon, blowing a panting fire-bolt into the sky, lowered its altitude and a copper bell started to ring across the plains.

Zuko had reached the icy city of the Northern Water Tribe.

***

When they had reached the throne room, the Chief led him to a door behind the throne, and then turned around, a stern expression on his features.

"Behind this door is the Spirit Oasis, where Tui and La in earthly form guard the balance between moon and ocean. I'll let you in, but do know this is very much an exception. Keep in mind that this is the most sacred place for both the Water Tribes and that if it wasn't for this," his eyes for a moment traveled to the gold lotus clasp on Zuko's chest, "and the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, we wouldn't allow any outsiders enter the Spirit Oasis."

Zuko bowed his head in humility. The last time any Fire Nation people had entered the Spirit Oasis, the balance of the spirits had almost been destroyed, demanding the ultimate sacrifice from this man's daughter. He hoped he would never be put in such a position when it came to his own children.

"I understand." His voice was soft. "Please allow me to assure you of my deepest respect for this most sacred place in perhaps the whole world, where the spirits of the moon and ocean themselves protect the balance between the elements." He bowed, Water Tribe style, then looked up, his gold eyes suddenly pleading.

A small smile ghosted over the Chief's lips, when he stepped aside and opened the door. "Go inside and save the White Lotus Society, my boy."

The scent of freshly cut grass washed over him, when Zuko entered the crystal cave and looked about the familiar scenery of two bridges leading to the meadow with the small pond in the middle. He noticed the delicate flowers blooming in the lush garden behind the ancient spirit gate. Then his breath caught. There she was.

"Katara…"

---

Wind was raging through the Wan Shi Tong Desert, blinding Aang as he saw Katara's face disappear behind the sand swirling around him. An overwhelming feeling of liberation and gratitude washed over him as he set his eyes on the vague spot in the far distance where he knew the library to be. Then he took a step forward, and another, all the while keeping his eyes on his destination before him. His destination. A small smile broke through his tense features. Yes, Toph was his destination. He never had been surer about anything in his life.

His steps had became a hastened pace and then advanced into a nimble run, honoring the nickname Toph had given her earthbending student. As he rushed across the endless plains of the Wan Shi Tong desert, Aang was overjoyed when he noticed that he actually drew nearer to the library, sinking away in the sand but mysteriously coming closer itself with every print his footstep left in the sand.

And as the windows of the second floor disappeared under the sand, Aang saw her, a flash of green standing before the library, motionless.

"Toph!" Aang shouted, but no sound escaped his lips, parched as his throat was by the dry desert storm. She didn't move, her black bangs swaying in a soft breeze that didn't correspond with the raging wind around Aang.

He crossed another hill, and then finally saw her silhouette grow as he approached her. Hesitantly, he slowed to a stop some fifty feet away from her. He swallowed, forcing saliva down his throat.

"Toph…" he said in a clear voice now and between them, the storm seemed to die down. Behind Toph the library remained sinking in the sand, but somehow, she was protected from its deadly force.

Then a fragile whisper reached his ears. "Aang… You've come for me…"

Aang felt a lump forming in his throat and when he spoke, his whisper sounded hoarsely. "I have…"

"You saved me…" she added softly, then continued on a low voice: "Twinkle Toes… the storm has stopped around us."

"I know," he responded quietly, he had wondered how that could be but the answer came from the petite earthbender with her back to him.

"The storm died down around me the moment you decided to really come for me. Now, our combined powers are protecting us both. Aang… Koh is a very powerful spirit and before he put me into this desert, he has given me a gift…" Toph hesitated for a moment and Aang subconsciously held his breath at the mention of Koh's name. The memory of Toph's featureless face once again flashed through his mind as his heart skipped a beat.

"He said that there was a great possibility I wasn't going to make it through this, even with all of my powers in sandbending… But he was impressed by my stubbornness and ferocity. He said… I deserved to see the one I love albeit for one time only. In honor of the love of your past life, which he had stolen…"

Aang's breath hitched and he took a step forward, but a flick of Toph's small hand made him freeze to the ground, the sand suddenly having been transformed in solid rock.

"Aang… More than two years ago you've had a dream in which I had lost my face. You thought it was a nightmare."

Aang remained motionless, silently listening to Toph's words, as an ominous feeling crept up on him. "You have to realize by now, Aang, that that dream wasn't a nightmare. And the ones from previous weeks weren't either. They were foreshadows of what had yet to come."

"How?" Aang finally whispered.

"Aang… Do you remember Katara being surrounded by fire in that dream?" Toph didn't wait for his reply. "It was a message, a sign of whom Katara's future really lies with."

"I realize that now." Aang bowed his head in defeat.

"As for me…" Toph continued, her voice barely audible anymore, "what you saw was merely the fulfillment of my greatest wish…"

She heard him suck in his breath and slightly tilted her head. "Aang… promise me one thing. When I turn around, don't run away… don't go after Koh. Stay and let me see you the way you see me."

Aang felt his heart sink in fright, but closing his eyes he whispered: "I will."

Then Toph slowly turned around.

Aang subconsciously took a step back, breaking the mud around him. Her features had been erased to the level where only faint outlines of her mouth and eyes were visible. She kept her eyelids closed, trembling as she straightened herself to her full length.

He wanted to cry out, anger ripping him apart as he saw her almost clear face, more horrifying than in all of his nightmares. Never before had he understood how Avatar Kuruk must have felt, like he did at this very moment. Now, he experienced the pain himself.

He clenched his fists, reminding himself feverishly of his promise to Toph not to go and run after Koh, when he suddenly felt two small hands take a hold of his.

Then he felt a soft breath brush his face as a sigh broke the silence. A sigh of happiness.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked down. Before him stood Toph, her face raised to his, her eyes still closed as her almost featureless face radiated a delight that made him relax in almost the same instant.

"I can finally see you," she whispered and Aang felt the feelings of fear, fury and powerlessness melt away as he felt her hands resting in his, her faded features glowing with the intensity with which she drank in his appearance. Somehow, Koh had made her senses turn inward, giving her the possibility to actually see him with her inner eye. Making her deepest wish coming true; to see Aang. His eyes widened at this realization and the corners of Aang's mouth subconsciously curled up in a smile. A faint echoing sound of a chuckle seemed to respond to his thoughts.

Toph bowed her head, seemed to look at his hands, trailing them with her fingers, then took a step back to take in the outlines of his body, his long legs, strong arms and toned chest, peeking through his tattered shirt. She then returned her intense gaze to his features, his soft grey eyes set in regular features and his carefully shaven scalp, decorated with the blue arrow, etching them in her memory forever.

Hesitantly, Aang took a step closer and lifted his hand to trail her jaw line with his finger. "And do you approve of what you see?"

Toph stayed silent for a moment. "You're beautiful," she finally whispered. "But if you ever tell the others I said that, I'll chase you down into eternity."

Aang let out a dry laugh. "That's completely fine with me, my earthbending sifu."

He wrapped his arms around her and found that her features slowly started to return, her rosy lips widening in a devious grin. "Only telling you, Avatar," she smirked and Aang sighed when his eyes met with pale, green ones once more, as her features returned to normal and the inner sight Koh had temporarily given her disappeared.

And finally giving in to his longing, he bent down and closed the last distance between them, meeting her lips in a passionate kiss.

At that moment a blinding white lightening crashed through the Spirit World, as the environment seemed to disappear in a whirling mass of light consuming everything around them. In a reflex they held on to each other, Aang wrapping his arms around Toph's petite body, while she grabbed him firmly by his lean waist.

They were sucked back to consciousness.

---

When the rain started to fall the small fires littered through the city were extinguished, while the gentle wind blew away the smoke. High above the Sozin Crater, the erupted volcano had calmed down with the first drops of rain descending on the hot Fire Nation soil. The city of Sozin had remained safe.

Throughout the day, Hakoda had walked around the city, sending his waterbenders everywhere to assist the Fire Nation citizens with controlling the fire. Now, he found himself leaning over a balustrade, watching the sun setting in the west. As he looked down, he could see one of the many inner gardens, a lush but calming scene and within the center a small pond. In the water he could discern peculiar little creatures, swimming hurriedly to the waterside when two young people, clad in a Water Tribe summer parka and a Kyoshian yukata in different shades of blue, crouched down with bread in their hands. Hakoda smiled subconsciously when Sokka seemed to hesitate before following Suki's example and extend his fingers. Immediately, one of the little creatures jumped on his hand and grabbed the bread from his palm. With a startled yelp Sokka drew back, and was rewarded with his fiancée's laughter.

"They're called turtle ducks," a melodious, somewhat husky voice spoke up softly from behind him and Hakoda straightened in surprise. At the entrance to the balcony stood a slender woman clad in long, red robes. Lady Ursa approached him with quiet steps, her heavy robes billowing softly as she moved. She wore a soft smile on her beautiful, somewhat melancholic features and her light-brown eyes shone in the amber light of the sun.

"Lady Ursa." Hakoda inclined his head and stepped back as she put her hands on the balustrade, following his gaze. When she spoke her voice was thoughtful.

"I created this garden myself, with help from the royal gardeners of course, and designed it to be a place of peace and quiet, with the pond put in the center. It was my favorite place in the entire palace. Zuko and Azula practically grew up in this garden." Her voice trailed away as if she relived the memories. Then she added seriously: "The importance of water is often underestimated in this nation."

"Words reminiscent of the White Lotus Society," Hakoda stated and Ursa slightly bowed her head, her lips curling in a secretive smile.

"I am a member," she then confirmed his suspicions. "My grandfather was Avatar Roku. I was raised with the balance between the four nations."

Hakoda's head snapped up. "Avatar Roku?" He asked sharply and Ursa's gaze flickered toward him. "It was the reason for my presence at the South Pole," she quietly explained. "For the elements can only be carried by descendents of previous Avatars… I hope we didn't cause any inconvenience to the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe."

For a moment the memory of that night resurfaced with both of them, then smiles broke through on both their faces.

"I recognized you," Hakoda said, looking down on his son again. "Something in your features I saw back within Zuko, though I didn't realize that until Katara came back to the South Pole a few weeks ago, bringing Zuko with her."

"She's a wonderful girl. You must be very proud," Ursa quietly responded and Hakoda nodded. "I am."

For a moment they were silent, then Ursa fixed her gaze on the tree next to the pond and asked softly: "How did it happen?"

Hakoda's blue eyes rested on her as he tried to gauge her intentions, but he could only see sympathy and a respectful distance in her slanted eyes. She left him the choice.

"It was a raid," he responded quietly, feeling the familiar pain sting through his heart again, never dulling with the advance of the years. "Word had spread that there was still a waterbender left at the South Pole, seventy years after the last raid in which all southern waterbenders had been led off."

His voice became hoarse. "I was too late. Kya had sent away Katara to protect her from the raiders and told the soldiers that she was the waterbender. She was slaughtered before Katara's eyes. Katara was five years old."

The words lingered in the air, much too painful for the peaceful atmosphere of the gentle, Fire Nation winter evening. Hakoda felt tears prick behind his eyes and he forced himself to bite them back, his gaze trained on Sokka feeding the turtle ducks.

"I'm so very sorry." He heard Ursa's voice speak up at last, her words sincere and heartfelt and he nodded mutely.

"What about you?" He finally succeeded in asking, with only a hint of a tremble to his voice.

Ursa sighed subconsciously. "I was banished for treachery. Fire Lord Azulon… he had ordered Ozai to kill his own son for disrespecting his brother's grief over his. I had to prevent that, had to save my son…" She looked out over the garden, slowly shrouding in darkness. "Let's just say that the night I was banished I traded a life for that of my son. Ozai despised Zuko for his kind and peaceful nature, but he kept his word and let him live. The next day Ozai was crowned the new Fire Lord. My husband, however, led Zuko to believe that I had died. Only shortly before the end of the war he found out that I was actually banished."

Touched by her words, Hakoda came to the conclusion that his daughter and Zuko had experienced similar horrors in their childhoods. No wonder Katara had been determined to help the Fire Lord find Lady Ursa with all her strength.

"And the Spirit Princess?" He asked, gently diverting her from the nightmares of her past. With some relief, he saw her face lighting up somewhat and she smiled. "It's not something I intended to encourage when I landed on Earth Kingdom soil with my helpers, nine of the most skillful warriors of the white lotus. But as we did so, someone remembered an old and long forgotten Earth Kingdom tale and it started to spread. While it helped me travel through the Earth Kingdom without being harmed, I decided that I could as well act on it. It was rewarding, being able to help all of those people and it eased some of the pain I felt about what I had done."

She didn't specify whether she meant her treacherous deed or leaving her son behind.

"Don't blame yourself," Hakoda said quietly, "you did what you had to do to save Zuko, just like Kya saved Katara. Now, we can only hope for them to save us."

Their eyes met in similar expressions of hope and sorrow and carefully, Hakoda lifted his arm, covering her slender, pale hand with his. She didn't pull back.

Darkness had fallen over the Fire Nation and as Sokka and Suki walked toward the palace in the soft light of the garden lanterns, Sokka's arm lovingly wrapped around Suki, the two parents had their gazes trained at the north. On their minds were their respective daughter and son, carrying the weight of the future on their shoulders.

---

She was sitting near the waterside, the silk of her robes elegantly draped around her, the pearls gleaming in her intricately gathered up curls. A small shock went through her body when she heard the whispering of her name break the peaceful silence of the Spirit Oasis. Zuko remained motionless as he saw her bow her head. "Zuko…" it sounded like a sigh, "You've made it…"

Then she slowly rose and turned around. Tears glistened in her eyes and on her cheeks, as a smile of utmost relief and gratitude lit up her features.

Zuko took a few steps forward, his long, red robes dragging across the soft grass beneath him. "I have," he said hoarsely. "Flying a dragon is a very swift way of transportation."

Katara's eyes widened and Zuko continued quietly: "Katara, the rebels are defeated. The egg is safe. But as I brought it to safety I realized that its fate is intertwined with those of the Order of the White Lotus and the peace in the world."

He cast a glance at the pond behind Katara, as he slowly approached her. "Just like the Koi fish in that pond over there do for the Water Tribes, the dragons in the Fire Nation represent the balance within our nation itself. And the dragons' egg is a result of the birth of a new balance… It will only survive when the Order does."

"Zuko, I solved the riddle," Katara whispered, taking a step toward him. "The message your uncle has assigned me to understand before the end of fall. I finally understand."

For a moment they only watched each other, the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe and the Lord of the Fire Nation, standing on the emerald green grass of the Spirit Oasis surrounded by walls of glistening ice-crystals, then Katara felt her feet move on their own accord, as she ran toward Zuko who closed the remaining distance between them with a few long strides. He caught her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and her hands found their way into his hair, feeling his arms pull her tightly against his warm body. Then his lips crushed down on hers in a searing kiss.

She had never experienced a kiss as passionate. His arms slid up her body, cupping her face as she pulled him down to her and desperate lips parted almost immediately, deepening the kiss. The warmth of his mouth, his body enveloped Katara, dispelling the cold in her heart she had felt for so long. She sunk away in the feeling as she finally allowed an overwhelming feeling of love and passion to wash over her. She finally had come home.

As he captured Katara's lips with his and he felt her arms snake around his neck, pulling him down to her with no restraint, Zuko squeezed his eyes shut; not believing he was actually holding Katara in his arms again and he felt her lips move over his in pure need. He felt the fire flaring up inside him as his long quieted feelings were finally answered by the waterbender he loved. A tear slid past his dark eyelashes and rolled down his cheek, the salty drop disappearing in their loving kiss.

They slowly pulled back, when they noticed a similarly intensifying glow between them, blinding them as they opened their eyes. The gold and silver lotus clasps they had received from General Iroh on the beginning of their journey shone with a brightness they had never experienced before.

They stared at each other's chests, not daring to touch the mysterious valuables.

"Zuko…," Katara then whispered in shock, snapping up her head, "the pond…"

His eyes followed hers immediately, when he noticed that the water in the Spirit Oasis pond had started to glow like the lotus clasps, yet with an icy blue gleam that made the walls of the oasis glisten. An equally mysterious blue glow shone from the Water Tribe symbol in the spirit gate and a mist seemed to swirl between the weather-beaten wooden pillars.

Zuko cast a glance at Katara when he saw her take a hesitant step toward the waterside, a strangely vacant expression on her features as she did so. Her hand stretched out and he took it, in wordless understanding. A flash of extra intensity passed over the still intensifying light on their chests as they approached the pond.

The Koi fish in the water had disappeared from view as the light surrounding them merged with the silver and gold light of the lotus clasps. Standing mere inches from each other, Zuko and Katara could only discern each other. All had gone quiet around them as the light descended upon them as a downy mist and they both felt, Zuko with his firebending at his weakest and Katara seeming to glow from within with the strength she drew from the full moon, that the time had come in which fall would make place for winter.

The two benders turned toward each other, an uncertain expression crossing their faces, as the downy mist started to gently swirl around them, quieting all sound in the Spirit Oasis. An urge from within made them reach out and take the other's hands as images started to flood their minds.

Images of their very first meeting at the South Pole, their various encounters along the way; a tree at a riverside, their fight in the Spirit Oasis, the Crystal Caves of Ba Sing Se, until the moment of Zuko joining Team Avatar and Katara healing him in the palace courtyard. Then the images changed, shooting past their lives with Mai and Aang for the past two years as a feeling of utter emptiness filled their hearts, before Iroh sent them off on their trip to save his Society. The images reminded of nights spent together under starry skies, in caves, gentleman's lodgings and haystacks, of intense dances at a harvest festival, of hesitant touches of their hands in the Temple of the White Lotus on Kyoshi Island, the last peaceful night before the fireplace in Senlin Village, the night in which Zuko had first kissed Katara. The images shifted from a prison cell in a pirate ship at Senlin Harbor, where they had shared their second kiss to a night in the Ember Island ocean, their bodies becoming one silhouette, glistening against the pale moonlight. They ended with the passionate kiss they had just shared in the Spirit Oasis.

'Insight comes with understanding,' a soft voice then whispered through the thick silence surrounding them.

The images changed, from the first cracks in their feelings of guilt and obligation, to Katara's discovery of the true meaning of the song Four Seasons. 'There's only one way in which the Order of the White Lotus can be saved…' Another voice then whispered, as the old fortuneteller faintly echoed: 'the union between the Fire Lord and the Princess of the reunited Southern Water Tribe, the great romance they are destined for…'

Zuko and Katara slowly opened their eyes, their gazes locking as the spirits worded what they had already felt in their hearts for so long; what was needed to save the White Lotus Society. Simultaneously the memory of a mutual future flickered in their minds, stirring up old feelings of hope and want, finally setting them free. Lifting her hand, Katara summoned a ribbon of water from the Spirit Oasis as Zuko mirrored her with one in blazing fire. They smiled, seeing their love for each other mirrored in the other's eyes.

"We know," Katara then softly answered the voice.

"And we accept," Zuko added, his voice barely more than a whisper.

For a moment it stayed silent, then it seemed like an inaudible sigh went through the entire space. 'Thank you,' two voices now whispered simultaneously. The Painted Lady and the Moon Spirit appeared from the mist swiveling inside the Spirit Gate, looking at the couple with tender smiles on their ethereal faces.

And as Zuko pulled Katara in again, sealing her lips with his, their elements floated out of their command, starting to swirl around them in ribbons of fire and water, lacing through each other in steamy hisses, dancing around the two benders in streaks of blue and red.

From the mist other silhouettes, remaining partly covered, their eyes burning with liquid fire and mirroring the endless depth of the oceans as they watched the Water Princess and the Fire Lord sharing the kiss, surrounded by their own elements.

'You've done well,' the silhouettes spoke to The Painted Lady and Yue, who inclined their heads at hearing the intangible, unearthly voices. 'Now both the living and the Spirit World can rest assure.'

A wave of their hands, clear as water, glowing like embers, made the spirits disappear into the light as the gold and silver lotus clasps suddenly released themselves from the hold the silk had on them.

Only a faint voice echoed through the Spirit Oasis. 'The illusion has been replaced by insight…"

From their foreheads, Zuko and Katara suddenly felt a feeling of extreme clarity tingle through their minds and as they stepped back they discovered the small sparkles from their lotus clasps touching the other's foreheads in a brightly glowing light. The sixth chakra, the light chakra cleared itself from illusion to be replaced with insight.

Obligations toward Mai and Aang, notions of tradition and fear for the unknown; feelings which had been hindering them for so long, were now washed away to make place for a new clarity. A new future in which they were finally be able to acknowledge and follow their hearts' desire, a feeling which had been building from the moment they had first laid eyes on each other. A love that would become a shining example to the world, the great romance between the Fire Lord and the Water Princess, as legendary as the tale of Omashu in ages to come.

A gentle tugging on their robes made Zuko and Katara look down with widening eyes, to see the shining lotus clasps slowly extricate themselves from their chests to dance towards the pond, gently coming to rest upon the water.

Then a radiant surge of light shot from the gold and silver petals and the next moment a white lotus flower, identical to the one residing at the South Pole, rested upon the quieted water as if it had always been there. A tranquil silence descended upon the Spirit Oasis. The White Lotus Society was saved.

---

Uncle Iroh's head had lowered and his chin rested on his chest, as he slept in his favorite chair by the window, sometimes letting out a puff of breath. His sleep wasn't peaceful.

His brows were slightly furrowed and the wrinkles around his eyes had deepened with worry. In his hand he clenched a letter by Commander Jee, the characters stating matter-of-factly that the Eastern Fleet had formed an alliance with the Southern Water Tribe to prevent the rebels from taking over the Fire Nation in the Fire Lord's absence. On his desk another letter from Aunt Wu laid open, her curly handwriting warning him for the consequences if the Fire Lord and the Water Princess would not come around soon.

The old man had fallen asleep torn by self-doubt, knowing he couldn't leave to take matters in his own hand because of the two unconscious bodies upstairs, much more vulnerable than his nephew and Katara were right now.

As he had been staring out of the window, watching the little lights of the city below glistening in the snow, he had constantly been rethinking his plan, torturing himself over the question of whether he had done the right thing in sending Zuko and Katara away. Maybe he had asked too much of them, expecting them to fall in love over searching for Princess Ursa and understanding their purpose in life. _Maybe…_

A muffled thud outside awoke Uncle Iroh with a start and he looked around, blinking in bewilderment, to have his gaze drawn toward the window. There, on his small courtyard, had landed an enormous white bison with darker colored arrows on his head and back. For a moment, Uncle Iroh could only stare, then he rushed outside, welcomed by a happy grumble from the gigantic six-legged beast.

"Appa! Where are you coming from?"

Uncle Iroh darted for the bison's paws and saw a small note attached to one of them. With trembling hands he unfolded it. Only after a moment he recognized the compact yet elegant writing. She started her letter to him like the ones she had sent him before.

_Dear General Iroh,_

_When you read this letter, I have arrived at the North Pole and have sent Appa back to Ba Sing Se, back to Aang. He missed him very much and since I no longer need his services, I had no reason for keeping him from returning to his master._

_As you probably have understood already, Zuko isn't here with me. The rebels have stolen the dragons' egg from the Sun Warriors' Temple and it has got to be saved, so I left for the North Pole alone. Zuko has promised to come after me, though I can't possibly imagine how he can manage. I try not to dwell on that._

_The journey to the North Pole has been hard and I survived only barely. Now, because of the Healers' care and the water from the Spirit Oasis itself, I've been healed almost completely, spending the remainder of my time in the Spirit Oasis, waiting, hoping for Zuko to come and save the White Lotus Society with me. It has only been instinct that sent me to the North Pole and I silently pray that I was right. _

_But being here alone, waiting, has given me a lot of time on my hands and- I solved the riddle, Grandmaster Iroh. The message you've given me to understand before the end of fall. It took me a long time and finally having gained this knowledge makes me all the sadder, as I sit and wait in the Spirit Oasis. _

_I love your nephew, Grandmaster. I'm able to admit it at last. I love Zuko. The past few weeks we have spent to search for Princess Ursa were probably the best in my life. Although I suspect you already knew this for a long time, his presence is all that I need for my happiness to surface, my confidence to strengthen, for all the things I expected but never found with Aang. To see this written by me must please you Grandmaster, since it has been you who has handed me my key to the truth. Finding Princess Ursa never has been the main goal on this journey, hasn't it, Grandmaster? _

_This letter I will bind around Appa's paw before I send him back to Ba Sing Se. Call it another hunch, but I had the feeling that he needs to be there. _

_With all my best regards for the General who raised Zuko to be the person that I love,_

_The white lotus opens wide to those who know her secret._

_Katara_

With trembling hands Uncle Iroh lowered the letter, not feeling the enormous tongue soaking him affectionately as he stared into the distance. Relief and anguish took over. She loved his nephew. Finally she had understood… and now they had split up. And what did she write about the dragon's egg? Iroh had clearly underestimated the rebels' strength, he now started to realize as horror filled him at the possible ways they could threaten the delicate egg. He felt infinitely grateful for having a nephew who had understood the need to save the egg, but a lump formed in his stomach as he acknowledged that this had led to Zuko and Katara's separation at the most important moment of their mission. Iroh closed his eyes in weariness, trying to calm his shaky breath.

A loud thud and a groan from inside the house snapped him from his train of thoughts and warily Iroh spun on his heels. The sound came from upstairs.

Moments later he barged into his own study, freezing almost immediately when the door opened. His eyes widened. The unconscious bodies of Aang and Toph which had been resting on futon beds on the floor for days, had come to life again as they had shot up and held each other in a tight embrace, Toph's head resting against Aang's chest as his cheek laid upon her thick, black hair. They looked utterly relieved and… loving.

Toph was the first to notice Uncle Iroh standing in the doorway. She broke free from Aang's hold and threw herself in her mentor's arms.

"Uncle!" She cried. "We made it back."

A smile appeared on Iroh's old features as he held the petite earthbender. "So I can see," he commented tenderly if not incredibly relieved. "How has it been up there?"

Aang had come to stand beside them, his gaze lovingly trained on Toph. "Koh taught us to see… In more ways than we ever expected," he replied quietly. Uncle Iroh's eyes widened slightly as he looked down on Toph, whose sightless eyes were staring past him. "Lu Ten says hello," she announced softly.

"He was there?" Uncle Iroh's gaze was sharp, but his voice had a hoarse edge to it as he spoke and Aang nodded. "As were Avatar Roku and the Monkey King. They guided us on our journey through the Spirit World…"

The old man sighed shakily and closed his eyes for a moment, as he did every time he was reminded of his beloved son. But he wasn't sad this time. Pride flickered in his heart at the knowledge that Lu Ten had helped Toph and Aang on their spiritual journey to find each other.

"Do I smell food?" Toph then cut in, her eyes darting to the open door and Uncle Iroh smiled. In the kitchen downstairs his manservant had started the meal. "Of course, my children, you must be very hungry after such a long trip through the Spirit World. You can tell me all about it while we're having dinner. But don't take too long, because we have a bison to catch to the Fire Nation…"

"Appa!" Aang's voice sounded through the study, his voice surprised. "Is he here?" And before Uncle Iroh could nod, Aang had pressed a kiss on Toph's head, squeezed her hand and rushed down the stairs to meet with his pet friend again.

"So, things have worked out for you, then?" Uncle Iroh kept his voice even, keeping open the door for his surrogate daughter. He caught the hint of pink gracing her cheeks before she slid past him.

"Which should make you very happy," she grumbled defiantly.

"Actually I am," Toph's mentor admitted as he closed the door to his study, casting a last glance at the ugly monkey statue, which seemed empty, lifeless now.

Iroh looked up when Toph stopped in her tracks and turned around. "I am too," she whispered quietly, her glassy eyes suddenly warm, then dashed down the stairs, to bury herself into Appa's white fur too.

---

To be holding onto Zuko once more, feeling his warmth radiate even through her thick parka, to lay her head against his back as the huge, scaled… dragon brought them back to the Fire Nation; Katara still couldn't believe her luck. Now he put his hand across hers holding onto his waist, squeezing it affectionately as she smiled against the smooth silk of his robes.

Their goodbye to the North Pole had been as surprising as it had been quick. After the unearthly light had disappeared and Zuko and Katara slowly became aware of their surroundings again, they smiled hesitantly, then fell into each other's arms as if they were seeing each other for the first time.

The sound of light footsteps had made them break apart, looking up into the smiling faces of the Chief and Chieftess. Great had been their surprise to see the beautiful white lotus resting peacefully on the pond's surface now, but not as great as Katara's surprise when she saw the enormous and frightening beast standing on the city's main square, its blue scales oddly in harmony with the icy surroundings. Although she had heard Zuko and Aang talking about them, she had never before seen an actual-

"Is that the dragon?" She whispered in shock as she took in the fierce, yellow eyes, the gleaming rows of razor sharp teeth framed by a white beard. Her eyes then averted to the young man who came to stand beside her, trying to keep the triumph from breaking through his level expression.

She smiled at his fruitless attempt, and her heart suddenly made a joyous jolt as she realized for the first time that the pale, black haired man really belonged to her now. It hadn't helped the beating of her heart to see him climb with apparent ease onto the dragon's back, a red spot on a creature sporting her colors.

She had been watching as the Northern Water Tribe rapidly became smaller and smaller as they rose higher and higher and she came to understand how in La's name Zuko could have made it on time. The dragon was fast. Breathtakingly fast.

Katara pressed herself against Zuko's back, basking in his warmth as they flew past icebergs, watching the frozen water of the northern seas change into the waving black depths. The high cliffs of the Earth Kingdom's most north-western province loomed in the east, endless pine-tree forests crowning the high cliffs as the two flew past.

As the sun set in the west, Katara was astonished to see the mountainous landscape of the Fire Nation rise from the seas, lit up in gold and flaming red by the last rays of sunlight. Zuko then turned around slightly.

"We're almost there. This will be the last moments before our journey will end." His eyes held the slightest hint of melancholy to which Katara bowed her head understandingly and hugged herself to Zuko, feeling the sigh coursing through his body.

In the east a pale moon rose, not as full as it had been yesterday. And with a smile she noted that winter had begun.

Only two hours later the city of Sozin came into view. The valley behind the city was covered with a layer of still smoldering magma while the city itself carried marks of heavy fights having taken place in the streets.

"What happened here?" Katara whispered as the dragon slowed down, drifting lazily above the curled rooftops.

"The rebels happened. They even managed to damage part of the Crater," Zuko explained without turning around, his voice grim. "But the city has been defended well."

There was something to his voice Katara couldn't quite pinpoint but she was pulled from her thoughts when the dragon made a sharp turn and headed for the battle tower in the Royal Plaza, in the harbor. Then Katara drew in a sharp breath. "Zuko, look at that!"

He had seen it too. An enormous crowd, flooding out over the gigantic Plaza, up until the battle tower, was waiting. There must have been thousands of people, perhaps the entire city of Sozin. "Where did those people all come from?"

Katara straightened up somewhat. "They must have been expecting us coming back today."

"But how…" Zuko started, then stopped as if realizing something. "Katara, do waterbenders use the ocean waves to pass messages along?"

"Well…" She paused. "Actually, yes. Why?"

A smirk momentarily passed over Zuko's face, unbeknownst to Katara. Apparently she hadn't seen the ships yet. "You'll see."

At that moment the crowd saw the silhouette of a magnificent, blue dragon appear from the misty cloud and the sound of chanting and singing rose up from the Plaza.

Zuko felt Katara's hands tighten around his waist, but when he looked over his shoulder she smiled brightly at him, as the dragon made a last turn above the Plaza and started to land upon the broad staircase before the battle tower.

The dragon hit the ground and a silence descended upon the Plaza as everyone looked up to see the Fire Lord slide from the dragon's back effortlessly. He turned around and looked up when the dragon, which had been holding up its wings until then, folded them against his body and revealed a beautiful young woman, clad in dark blue velvets and silks, her sweet, tan face framed by downy white fur.

A gasp went through the crowd as she bowed her head, the white pearls in her hair gleaming, then opened her water pouch and a glistening stream of immediately freezing water formed a path down.

The crowd sighed impressed as she gracefully glided down and took Zuko's extended hand, then bowed toward the dragon which unfolded his wings, inclined his head and proudly rose to meet the sky again.

Slowly the Fire Lord and the beautiful waterbender turned around.

For a moment there was only silence, then Katara watched in amazement as the people on the courtyard lowered themselves as one man to the ground and kowtowed to her. Her hand resting in Zuko's was squeezed gently by him to support her and gratefully she ran her thumb across his. Zuko leaned slightly in.

"Behold your future people," he whispered and what he saw in her eyes was not fear or embarrassment but enthusiasm and determination.

She let go of his hand and made a step forward, clapping her hands together in a serene gesture and bowed toward the crowd Fire Nation style, a smile tingling in her blue eyes. A cheer rose up from the crowd as she straightened herself and waved.

Zuko had his eyes trained on Katara the whole time, trying to ignore the racing of his pulse when his subjects pressed her to their hearts in the blink of a moment. And at that moment he realized with a shock he was looking at Fire Lady Katara, his future spouse, the mother of his people.

He smiled when the figure of his Chamberlain came forward and turned to them, a smile on his face as he bowed respectfully. "Your Majesty, Your Highness, a letter from the Chief of the Sun Warriors arrived this morning, giving joyful news about the dragon's egg Your Majesty has saved. It's hatched and a healthy young dragon has been born. And the biggest news is…" he added as he faced the enormous audience, content with the smiles lighting up the Young War Heroes' faces, "it's purple!"

Smiling at their surprised gasps, the Lord Chamberlain turned around, straightened himself and said on a lofty voice: "Let the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, fiancée to our Fire Lord be welcomed!"

A thunderous applause rose up and intensified when Zuko wrapped his arm around Katara's shoulder and kissed her before all of Sozin in the most triumphant day of their lives.

***

Zuko sighed in utter contentment and rolled over in his sleep, stretching out his arm to reach for the cool body resting beside him, but instead of the soft curves of Katara's hip, his palm met with the silk of the sheets. His eyes shot open and saw what his body had already registered; that she was gone. He sat up straight, the sheets falling back from his bare torso, running a hand through his messy hair while his almond eyes scanned the surroundings.

It was still night but he could discern the outlines of his ornate bedroom, his gaze coming to rest upon a blue silk gown Katara had worn when she was brought to his room. A small smile involuntary reached his lips.

Only now did he really understand and appreciate the tradition of changing the bride and groom's heavy and complicated wedding robes into somewhat… easier attire. It had been a long and fatiguing wait though, having the ceremonial robes, which had cost them several hours that morning to get into, peeled off him again, and then being put into bath. He already deprived much sleep because of tradition restricting Katara to her assigned guest chamber. Thank Agni for his mother's silent understanding with which she had invited them to a quiet evening at her quarters, and then left them alone in the living room, slumped against each other before the fire. Those few times they had been able to get just enough sleep to make it through until the wedding day.

***

Zuko had to admit that although he had been looking forward to finally being alone again with Katara the most, he would always remember the moment he first laid eyes on her in her wedding attire as being absolutely breathtaking.

The day had started early when he had to welcome all of his guests, including the Earth King, the Chief and Chieftess of the Northern Water Tribe, the King of Omashu, the Ladies Mai and Ty Lee with their parents and the Avatar and his fiancée, Lady Toph Bei Fong, who smiled at him encouragingly. Their wedding day lay not too far ahead in the future.

Then, when the sun reached its summit, Zuko found himself standing at the quay, surrounded by his court and the entire city of Sozin, watching as the Water Tribe flagship with the carved polar wolf's head proudly preceding the blue billowing sails, gracefully approached the harbor, bordered by the other Water Tribe ships forming a lane.

When the ship had processed halfway through the lane, it came to stop and small lifeboats emerged from the shadows, moving in a v-formation, the result of waterbending. In the front boat stood Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe in ceremonial robes, holding the hand of his daughter, Katara.

Zuko's heart had stopped beating at the absolutely striking sight. The water had glistened in the light of the sun, casting a brilliant glow on the Water Princess standing proudly next to her father. She had worn traditional Water Tribe wedding robes, adjusted to the warm Fire Nation winter. A brocade, sky blue parka, adorned with small borders of fur and embroidered with silver thread, left just enough space for the long dress underneath, made of delicate silk voile in an extraordinary pale blue color, changing to a glistening silver every time Katara moved. Zuko then had moved his eyes upward toward a silver ornament dotted with glistening diamonds and sapphires gathering up her hair. Countless pearls were woven through her dark brown tresses in an intricate and beautiful way, with one, large pearl resting upon her forehead. A light make-up enhanced the lovely features of Katara's natural beauty.

She had smiled at him, when their eyes locked and let go of her father's hand. Zuko's eyes widened in astonishment as the other waterbenders in her retinue stopped the boats and she lifted her hands in an elegant but powerful gesture. A mist of water drops rose from the surface around her, illuminated by sunlight into a glistening halo around the Water Tribe. The mist of water rose higher and elicited a wave of gasps and sighs from the crowd surrounding Zuko. A large rainbow with brilliant sparkling colors, had formed above the harbor, gracefully spanning the Water Tribe ships as they sailed through it.

It was a magnificent sight and everyone at the quay had fallen silent and bowed in reverence as Katara turned toward her father and hugged him tightly while a single tear ran down her cheek. And as she smilingly took Zuko's outstretched hand to help her on land, a lane of firebenders formed an aisle all the way down the Fire Temple and started to bend a fierce arch of fire for them to walk underneath. He gazed at her from the corner of his eye and caught her quiet smile at him before they started to move. Katara, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, Master Healer and Master Bender, Teacher to the Avatar, Young War Hero and… his bride.

There wasn't a happier man alive at that moment.

The lavish wedding banquet followed the serene ceremony before the Fire Temple where they had paid their respects to both fire and water, Agni and La in an astounding display of master bending when the Fire and Water Sages, in a beautiful blend of Fire Nation and Water Tribe rituals, blessed on earth what the spirits had already sealed in the heavens.

From Zuko's part the ceremony became a bit emotional when he and Katara turned toward Lady Ursa and General Iroh to pay their respects to the groom's parents. There they had been; his mother beautiful in her brilliant brocade robes, shimmering gold whenever she moved, and his uncle dressed in red for the first time in two years, his grey hair pulled back in a top knot and adorned with a golden flame, indicating him as the Prince of the Fire Nation he was. They had looked down on him and Katara with proud smiles and wise gazes. Zuko's heart swelled with gratitude.

Katara squeezed his hand in a comforting way before they had risen to pay their respects to each other, love radiating from both their faces as they had smiled lovingly at each other. The Lord Chamberlain had stepped forward once more and announced on a lofty voice: "All hail to the Fire Lord and the Fire Lady!" eliciting a cheer and applause from the people present.

And as the sun was still visible in the evening sky, a golden orb amidst a brilliant shade of red with the silvery moon having already risen in the east, brilliant and triumphant fireworks erupted throughout the city of Sozin. Glittering stars reached for the skies, in red, blue, green and gold, accompanied by loud bangs, falling apart into long streaks of sparkles illuminating the Fire Nation below.

Katara and Zuko were finally married.

---

"She looks beautiful, doesn't she?" Toph whispered as her eyes swept into the general direction of what her feet heard.

Aang studied the bride and groom as they passed them by. Never had he seen such a soft look on Zuko's normally stoic features and Katara… she looked absolutely radiant.

"Yes, she does," Aang smiled silently, but his gentle voice held only pride and relief as he cast a glance at Toph and his hold on her slender waist tightened for a moment, not specifying who exactly he meant; the bride or the petite earthbender next to him.

They had arrived at Sozin a few days after Zuko and Katara, bringing with them Grandmaster Iroh of the White Lotus Society who had so dramatically rearranged the relations between the Young War Heroes when he sent his nephew and Katara on this journey to find Lady Ursa. The old man had pulled the Fire Lord and his fiancée in a tight hug the moment he had unceremoniously tumbled down Appa's back, whispering something only few members of the Order could decipher as a blessing in the ancient language of the white lotus.

Aang had quietly been standing behind the General, hesitant, for the moment, to look Katara in the eye after what had happened in the Spirit World. But Katara only noticed his hand holding Toph's and a smile broke her tense features before she pulled him in a tight hug, thanking him from the bottom of her heart. He had closed his eyes as he sighed in relief and let go. At that moment Toph's voice had piped up. "So…," she smirked, "I guess you'll be a sugar queen for real , won't you?"

The boys' roaring laughter filled the courtyard, breaking what was left of the ice as Zuko had lightly put his arm around the frowning waterbender and smiled away her displeasure.

The day after Zuko and Katara's wedding Aang and Toph had taken off on a journey of their own, heading south toward a more gentle climate. Two weeks later, Appa landed smoothly on a very familiar hillside outside the village of Gaoling.

Aang turned toward Toph whose features in the past two weeks of travelling had glowed with utmost bliss but now had grown grim as the scenery changed into that of her childhood days.

He cupped her face with his hands as he looked down into her sightless eyes. "Don't be afraid, Toph," he whispered. "Be the Blind Bandit I know you are."

Leaning in, he sealed her mouth with his, in a reassuring kiss. Responding automatically, she slightly parted her lips, but then sighed and pulled back, her fists clenching and unclenching.

"Let's go," she said firmly. "I'm ready."

The moon had not yet showed itself when a shadow once again rose to meet the darkening sky, flying over the elaborately ornate gate of the estate, and crossing the elegant gardens, to land before a stately manor house. A muffled cry somewhere broke the silence as he did so.

Two young people, an Air Nomad with a shaven and tattooed scalp and a raven haired girl in earthbending attire, ascended the wide staircase. When the girl then stood still, the Air Nomad reached out and let the copper knocker fall onto the door with a firm bang as he wrapped his arm around the earthbender and pulled her against him. He whispered something in her ear, and then gently kissed her hair.

The door opened with force and a soft gasp escaped the young woman's mouth as she sensed who had answered the door themselves, equally shocked gazes on their faces.

Tears started to stream from the elegant woman's eyes as she put her hand to her mouth. "Oh, Toph," she whispered. Then, as Aang let go of her, Toph was being enveloped in a close embrace by the ornately dressed man and woman.

"I missed you," she said hoarsely, "mom, dad." And as they pulled back, Toph said softly: "Mom, dad, you've met before, but this is Aang, the Avatar. I've taught him earthbending."

Aang bowed respectfully, Earth Kingdom style. "And for that I'm eternally grateful," he said solemnly. Lao Bei Fong's emerald green eyes wandered from the young Avatar to his daughter, standing close to each other and a ghost of a smile softened his handsome, aristocratic features. "I see. We have much to discuss."

Appa groaned softly in contentment as the door closed behind the four people.

---

It had been strange suddenly feeling the pressure of silence in Zuko's bedroom as the noise from talking and music was left behind in the magnificent halls.

People were still dancing when they had been led away, Sokka having his arms lovingly wrapped around his Kyoshi Warrior who looked splendid in her grass green and gold kimono, passing Toph and Aang in the exact same position, the pale green of Toph's voile gown complementing Aang's yellow robes and cloak, watched smilingly by Kanna and Master Pakku. Katara had cast a last look over her shoulder to see her father bowing toward Lady Ursa and Uncle Iroh dancing, then taking over the General's place, a smile coming on both their faces. The next moment the double doors had closed off her view on the festivities.

Their breathing, so fragile to Katara's ears, slightly broke the silence as the door gently clicked shut. She was glad the servants who had put them in bed, finally had left and she closed her eyes. The cool silk sheets covering her slender body made her shiver, remembering her of the large distance between them in the enormous bed. She longed for his warmth; her heart starting to beat at a faster pace as her thoughts drifted off to all those moments in which she had slept in his arms, her head tucked in the crook of his neck as his fingers lightly trailed her arm…

"Katara…"

She hadn't noticed him leaving his side of the bed and crossing the room. Startled, her eyes raised up to see his silhouette, dark against the soft light coming from the garden outside, hovering over her as he gently said her name. Her heart made a strange leap, as she slightly sat up, drowning in the glistening, golden eyes that watched her with such silent intensity.

"Alone at last…" He whispered, slowly leaning over and suddenly she was engulfed with his spicy, slightly smoky firebender scent, mixed with a blissful warmth emanating from his body. Subconsciously, she inhaled deeply , leaning in as her eyes trailed down his bare, well-toned chest, his strong arms and lean waist. In the moonlight the scar near his heart looked like it had been made out of silver.

Then his parted lips pressed the slightest of kisses on her head, his breath gently caressing her neck as he lingered for a moment, and then slowly withdrew. With a slight shiver, Katara pulled back to make space for him, wordlessly.

He quietly slipped next to her, his eyes never leaving her face as he leaned over her. Trembling in anticipation she reached up, her index-finger trailing his dark eyebrow, his scar, the almond eyes looking at her with a breathtaking mix of infinite gentleness and smoldering passion, then caressing his straight nose, the beautiful curve of his cheekbones, his strong jaw line. He closed his eyes when she reached his lips, parting them slightly as a she brushed the sensitive flesh.

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as Katara then leaned in and grazed his lips with hers, her upper lip slightly trailing his bottom lip, as her tongue darted out for only a split second to lightly touch his lip.

His breath caught and he buried his face in her hair as her hand continued its travel down his neck, caressing the smooth skin covering the supple muscles of his chest.

Mirroring her actions, Zuko's hand then lifted and traveled up her body, lightly exploring every curve and buried itself in the gleaming curls cascading down her soft shoulders, supporting her head as he leaned in closer, letting out a trembling sigh when his chest touched her benevolently cool body. The feeling of her soft skin and curves caressing him sent a jolt of electricity through him.

With her heart racing, Katara watched Zuko's eyes darkening the moment their bodies touched, feeling his smooth, warm skin touching hers. Her breath caught.

To be able to give in at last, to let the hopeless and long suppressed passion finally be freed…

Mesmerized she let her hand wander toward the back of his neck, burying her slender fingers in his hair as she slowly pulled him in, whispering his name.

He bowed his head, resting it in the crook of her neck before his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and a breathy groan escaped him when her body arched against his.

The expectations of them saving the Order simply faded to the background as all that remained was the love fueling the passion between them, as Zuko lowered Katara onto the soft pillows, their eyes locking. Then as their bodies fluently merged to one with slow movements, they had finally lost themselves in each other.

***

Now, Zuko sat up awake in his ornate four poster bed, his body still remembering the feeling of holding Katara in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder as she had nestled her body against his, never again to be separated from one another while sleeping. Some moonlight peeked into the bedchamber past the heavy curtains and a small smile appeared on his lips as he remembered the bending discipline of the lovely woman he was now married to. He quickly put on the loose, silk dressing gown and rushed for the ornately carved ebony doors, his feet bringing him to the turtle duck pond on their own accord. Nobody saw him leave.

The pale moon becoming smaller cast a soft silver glance across the harmonious garden and Zuko for a moment stopped to admire the glow on the grass, the color disappeared from the delicate petals of the blooming winter jasmine tumbling from the walls. Slowly, he started to approach the pond, when he froze in his steps. She was there.

A lithe figure stood at the waterside, the light silk of a dressing gown, reminiscent of the Painted Lady's robes, softly billowing in the gentle breeze. Gleaming curls cascaded across her back and sparkles of moonlight reflected by the softly rippling water caressed her dreamy face as her hands made small movements to bend the water to her will. Zuko's breath caught.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Katara looked up startled, hearing a gentle, somewhat husky voice asking a familiar question. Soundlessly he had come to stand beside her, his head slightly cocked, peeking a glance at her as he looked at the pond before them. Katara smiled.

"I've awoken you," she established quietly and closed her eyes as she felt his arm wrap around her. Carefully she rested her head against his shoulder. "The moon is shining bright tonight."

Zuko smiled in her dark brown curls and wordlessly pulled her against him, radiating some warmth to her through the cool silk of her dressing gown.

Katara sighed content, feeling her body relax in the presence of her firebender. Her eyes drowsily followed the rippling of the water until Zuko's voice spoke: "You see the water flower on the surface? That's the white lotus, put in this pond by The Painted Lady when she appeared above it."

Katara remembered. He had been reluctant to tell her about it at first.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" She reminisced and a low chuckle rumbled through his body. How could he ever forget? It hadn't exactly been his best day to remember.

"You were so different back then," he heard her whisper as she reached up and her hand for a moment buried itself in his hair, where two years ago had merely been smoothly shaven scalp.

"I was confused and in the dark," he replied softly and pulled her closer against him, his serious gaze fixed on the pond before them. "But that didn't keep me from noticing you."

A small, knowing smile appeared on Katara's lips. "We've come a long way, haven't we?"

"And then to think…" he pressed a light kiss on her head, "that the future of the Order and the peace in the world even depended on us coming together."

"So many things have changed since then," she remarked quietly.

"And definitely for the best," Zuko added whole-heartedly.

He tore his gaze from the pond, when Katara looked up at him. "All of it?" She asked and she saw a little confusion appear in his golden gaze when she went to stand in front of him. Her hand lifted on its own accord and caressed his creased eyebrow and cheek, wanting to take away the worry Katara saw in his features.

"Don't get me wrong," she said softly, putting her other hand on his chest, feeling the rough skin of his scar underneath her fingers. "I couldn't be happier, but could you…?"

Her hand now left his heart, reaching for her chest and he watched as she pulled a thin silver necklace from underneath her dressing gown. Then his eyes widened in shock. In her hand she held a small crystal vial, glowing with a soft blue light, which hadn't been there earlier that night. He would have remembered.

"Water from the Spirit Oasis," he whispered and Katara nodded once. "I took some with permission."

An unspoken offer lingered in the air between them as Zuko heaved a trembling hand and let his fingers run across the delicate vial. The water inside sparkled softly at the touch.

Zuko swallowed as he understood what this meant. He could have his try at last, the try that hadn't been meant to be, more than two years ago, in the Crystal Caves of Ba Sing Se. So much would he have given back then to have Aang and Uncle not come barging in to rescue him and Katara, but to let her finish what she had started. Now he knew it had been her care, the soft touch of her fingers, the worry in her gaze, purely meant for him, what he had craved the most. And now she stood before him, the waterbender, equaling a spirit, loving him. He closed his eyes.

"Do you mind?" He whispered a little hoarsely.

For a moment she didn't reply, then she reached up and pulled his face toward her. "You know I don't." A shiver went through him when her lips touched the skin of his scar, caressing it with utmost tenderness. "I never did."

He let out a sigh he didn't knew he had been holding and took her hand to protectively lay it on the vial.

"Then I have no need for the water anymore," he whispered, looking at their joint hands holding the vial around her neck. The silver necklace shimmered in the moonlight. "But… There is a person who does. Please, use the water on her. Heal Azula. She… needs it more badly than I do."

Far away on the other side of the enormous palace a young woman stirred in her bed, the crease in her forehead disappearing at the tones of her mother's voice humming a lullaby to her.

Katara's face lit up in a loving smile as she looked up at Zuko's serious, expectant features. "Of course I will. I can't think of a better use for it."

She lifted her hand and gently caressed the scar, seeing his expression soften. Then he took a hold of her hand and pressed a kiss in the palm, sending shivers down her spine.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I love you, Katara."

His arms wrapped around her slender waist as her hands snaked around his neck, pulling him down. "I love you too. With all of my heart."

The moon cast a silvery glow on the couple standing at the waterside of the turtle duck pond, as they closed the last distance between them, their silhouettes becoming one. And when their lips met in a slow, passionate kiss, a soft glow momentarily passed over the white lotus flower as the soft sound of a melodious chuckle was carried away by the wind.

---

Evening had fallen and the city bathed in the golden rays of the last sunlight of the day. A gentle breeze rustled through Uncle Iroh's silk green robes as he leaned back in his chair, hearing the soft buzzing of the rest of the city as a small, content smile played around his lips. He had asked his manservant to serve his tea outside, because of the beautiful early autumn weather. It was one of the things he loved about Ba Sing Se: the clear distinction between the four seasons, each one giving generously to his beloved city, what it had to offer.

Yes, there was no city better to live than Ba Sing Se, but the old Grandmaster of the White Lotus Society had gained an important reason for travelling to his native country. His delighted smile broadened as he heaved his face toward the sun, feeling the rays strengthening him, then he pulled in the ink and parchment lying on the table.

_Ba Sing Se, the season of fall in the year 103 ASC_

_Respected Sister of the White Lotus Society, dear Aunt Wu,_

_An exciting year lays behind us, a year which would never have been what it turned out to be without your adequate and useful warning. _

_This letter I write upon my return to Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation to visit my newborn grandchildren. As was expected by the Sages because of their different bending disciplines, my nephew and Katara have been blessed with beautiful twins. I had tears in my eyes when I held the grandchildren this silly old man has wished his nephew to give his uncle for so long. Princess Kya, a beautiful girl who already has her father's ardent nature and golden, yet large, glistening eyes, is named after Katara's late mother and, I'm still moved beyond all that's dear to me in this life, her older brother, Crown Prince Lu Ten, named after my late son, has slanted, blue eyes and the most lovely smile I have ever seen._

_They are to become the most remarkable water- en firebender in the world. I hope they like tea._

_As you may have understood from the above, all has turned out for the better. After fulfilling their journey to the end, my nephew and Katara finally realized the reason behind their quest and their love for each other. And they saved more than even the Grandmaster of the Order would ever have bargained for. The ancient gold and silver lotus clasps, which has been under the Grandmaster's care for centuries to be given to the bearers known as apprentices of the Grandmaster, have found their place in the world. I'm humbled by the fact that I was blessed with being the Grandmaster who was to see this._

_In that respect, I'm very grateful to say that the Grandmaster and the Black Lotus Council have gained what can be considered the most important in their existence: successors. When the time comes to meet with my son and wife again, I will be able to go in peace, knowing that all four elements will be represented in the Council as the Avatar and his three sifus will assume their rightful places. Then the Grandmaster shall once again be the person who will guide the next Avatar on his or her journey._

_I'm grateful to know this all comes with the salvation of the Order by the two benders of the most opposing elements joined in a romance which will equal the romance of Oma and Shu._

_The love between Zuko and Katara, though foreseen by the spirits but developed from the recognition of their hearts' choice, has made way for a true shift in power in the Era of the Avatar, reminiscent of the Era before the Avatar, when people utilized energybending to bend the energy within themselves. Like Oma and Shu became the first earthbenders and immortalized their love by building the city of Omashu, Zuko and Katara, a firebender and a waterbender, will set the decisive step in the process which started with Aang defeating the Fire Lord and will ultimately lead toward a new balance._

_But for now I'm just happy to be a grandfather and I relish in the fact that in a few months time I will see the twins again on the New Moon Celebration at the South Pole, where they will be presented to Fire Lady Katara's nation, together with the child her brother and Princess Suki are expecting._

_Let me conclude with the kind request that if Avatar Aang and Toph Bei Fong happen to cross your path, as you foretold in your last letter, you remind them to write an old man who loves to read about their adventures on their way to help Zuko building our new world._

_The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secret,_

_Iroh,_

_Grandmaster of the White Lotus Society_

_---_

**A/N:** _It's done. After more than a year the story has finally reached its conclusion. At first I want to thank **Shrilaraune** for having been such a great beta for this story and I'm glad you're staying with me for other projects. I want to thank all of you who have been with me for the past year, reading the story, sharing their thoughts with me (which were always so very positive for which I'm eternally grateful!) and although, like you, I'm sad that it's over, I also feel glad for being able to bring you the last chapter of this story and give Zuko and Katara the romance and the future that they deserve. Which goes for Aang and Toph as well. Toph was given a glimpse of what the love of her life looks like and because of him, she was able to go back to Gaoling and reconcile with her parents at last. _

_If you're wondering about Hakoda and Ursa, I'll only say I created an opening which can lead to certain possibilities, but for the rest I'm leaving things to your imagination._

_Ultimately, the story finishes with the person it started with: Uncle Iroh, who has finally gotten the grandchildren he so desperately wanted. _

_The music I used as an inspiration for this chapter are two very triumphant, beautiful tracks from the Stardust soundtrack and the prompt points at the resemblance between the moon and Katara. _

_But, the story hasn't finished entirely. So... read the epilogue and know what lies ahead for our beloved couples._


	47. South

**Fall of the White Lotus**

**Epilogue: South**

Music: Patrick Doyle, Snow in August (Nanny McPhee)/ Carter Burwell, Opening Titles (Miller's Crossing)

* * *

Seagulls screamed in the clear blue sky, as they flew through small, white clouds and a cold wind rippled the surface of the endless southern oceans. Ice flows drifted by the large, steel Fire Nation vassal which was heading south.

The elderly lady on the bridge pulled her warm, red cloak tighter around her and adjusted her hood, a sparkle lighting up her wrinkled, blue eyes at feeling the familiar, ice cold wind on her old skin. She clenched and unclenched her hands for practice against the stiffness which over the years would claim her body more and more, but her former beauty still lingered in the high cheekbones, her long, grey curls and straight posture.

It wouldn't be long now, she knew, as her gaze rested upon the icebergs looming in the distance.

The sound of footsteps made her look up and she stiffly turned around to see the captain standing next to her, his red and gold uniform bright against the somber steel grey of the bridge. He bowed. "Your Majesty, we will reach the Southern Water Tribe within the hour," he informed her respectfully and she nodded friendly at him. He looked up. "Is there something the Fire Lady-mother needs? It's getting rather cold…"

But the old lady shook her head, a smile still on her features. "No thank you, Captain. I'm quite alright. I'm used to these kind of temperatures."

The middle-aged man actually colored slightly at the small reminder as he bowed again. "As the Fire Lady-mother Katara wishes."

Then she was left to her thoughts once more.

A melancholy smile played around her lips as Katara put a hand to the railing, relishing in the feeling of the cold wind playing around her, making her robes billow. She actually felt relieved; this would be her final task before she could join her beloved husband in the afterlife.

* * *

Two years ago, Zuko had followed his long gone mother and uncle into the Spirit World, blessed with old age. His passing had left a deep hole in Katara's heart which she knew would never heal, but she was grateful that he died peacefully and in his sleep, a legendary Fire Lord who had created an era of love and understanding and in doing so had found a new place for his nation amongst the others. His marriage to the deeply beloved Fire Lady Katara, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe and waterbending teacher to Avatar Aang, had breached the walls between the three nations in a way which hadn't been held possible by anyone but the ancient Avatar: where children were born from the unity of benders from different disciplines, they not only held the talent to bend either element but also a new form of bending, which seemed to come from within. Aang had smiled secretly when both Zuko and Katara's twins and his own son with Toph were gifted with the talent.

"Perhaps the times will once return in which the Avatar won't be needed anymore," he had merely said once, in answer to Katara's questions about it. It hadn't been until then, that Katara truly understood the meaning behind the great romance she and Zuko had been destined for: because of their unity the world had set foot into a new era, guided by the elemental spirits who had brought Zuko and her together.

Aang… He was the reason that she was heading south now, knowing she would never see her husband's homeland again. The land in which she had lived through many years, and had come to love as her own. She had been beloved by its people as the Fire Lady Healer they had started to call her, driven by her infinite empathy and her contributions to medical science.

The Avatar, her best friend, had passed away somewhat of a decade before Zuko, when age finally seemed to have caught up with him. During the his life, he and Toph had laid the foundation for Republic City, which would become a grand and thriving place, home to people from all nations. He went over in his bed with view on his beloved mountains surrounding the city, in the presence of his wife Toph and their son Tenzin, an airbender. The Avatar's son and grandchildren were precious to the Order: one time their descendents would inhabit their lands in the four wind directions once more.

* * *

Now, almost six years later, the Order of the White Lotus had recognized the new Avatar born amongst the waterbenders and sent Katara, closest friend and waterbending teacher of the previous Avatar, to the Southern Water Tribe for her last but most important task as Grandmaster of the Society: to become the Avatar's guardian.

Katara's thoughts drifted toward her children and grandchildren she had left behind in the Fire Nation and smiled. She missed them, but also knew they didn't need her anymore. Lu Ten now reigned the Fire Nation, the most remarkable Fire Lord his nation had ever seen: a blue-eyed and mild-mannered firebender with black hair and pale skin. Intelligent and well-educated by his father and supported by his lovely wife, he had quickly become popular with his people, continuing on his father's successful path. His golden-eyed sister Kya was married to the new Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, the late Chief Arnook's great-nephew.

Yes, Katara would miss them, but she also knew, from the prophecy Aunt Wu had told her so long ago, that she would see them again at the South Pole, for she would die surrounded by her grandchildren.

* * *

As the icebergs in the ocean grew larger, the Fire Nation ship bravely continued its course and the old lady's eyes eagerly swept over the scenery before her, hoping to see a glimpse of the Southern Water Tribe city she knew was hidden behind the icebergs. So many times she had taken this route and so many times after that particular one during their journey, Zuko had been holding her hand, but the last time she would ever take the trip, her hand twitched but wasn't taken. A sigh escaped Katara and she had to blink away a few tears, until the icebergs gave way to a magnificent view on the Southern Water Tribe, glistening in the last rays of the sun.

Then, the Fire Nation ship sailed past the proud polar wolves' heads flanking the harbor's entrance and she could see her brother Sokka, Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, standing at the quay.

His wife, Chieftess Suki had passed away a year ago and old age had made him pass some of his duties to his eldest son, but he had wanted to welcome his sister by himself. Katara's thoughts for a moment drifted toward the moment, more than sixty years ago, when another Fire Nation ship had docked near their then tiny village, as Sokka stood there, watching the stately ship, that carried the Fire Lady-mother, Grandmaster of the White Lotus Society; his sister. He smiled and raised a hand. It would be the two of them once more.

As the ship docked, Sokka smiled and nodded at her, then stepped aside to reveal a much younger man and woman, subjects of the Water Tribe, who looked up at the large, steel ship as well. They held the hands of a young girl. A vivid little girl with playful, brown bangs framing her tan face. She wriggled herself through the adults and ran toward the gangway and expectantly heaved up her little face toward the dignified, old lady emerging on the gangplank.

Korra. The new Avatar.

Katara smiled.

The circle was full.

-THE END-

* * *

**A/N**: _And with this epilogue the story now truly has ended. It has ended where the amazing story of Avatar: the Last Airbender has started: at the South Pole, with Sokka and Katara, where Katara will teach and guide the new Avatar until she's ready to face the world and her own adventures, which will be called Avatar: The Legend of Korra. I've taken the liberty of somewhat adjusting this chapter which is the end of the story and a look into the future, to make it fit with what has recently become known about this new series of Avatar. Coincidentally, I didn't have to change much, since the new Avatar in my story already was a Water Tribe girl. _

_You may also be wondering __about Azula. Well, as you've read in previous chapter Zuko declined Katara's offer to use water from the Spirit Oasis on his scar, but instead asked her to use it on Azula. I didn't want to delve too deep into how things would work out for her in the future (since Zuko's request already implies that things turn out for the better for Azula), but you can imagine she will find her purpose in life too. Her mother is back, her brother has made an important sacrifice for her and the most important part: she will be cured from the insanity Ozai has instilled in her for years. Azula will be fine. _

_The music for this chapter, short like the very first one, are from two beautiful soundtracks I discovered not too long ago. Especially the Opening Titles from Miller's Crossing by the Coen brothers are of such a beauty that I had to use them for this chapter. You may know the composer from the Twilight sound__track. The music has also been used in the trailer for the new and very promising PS3 game The Last Guardian which I can't wait for it to be released._

_I'm very grateful to say that the ending to the story (and the story itself of course) has turned out the way I intended it. I loved writing it and I think that's the reason that it has become a lot longer than I initially thought. But it has provided me with the possibility to include everything I wanted to include in the story, from describing the beautiful environments in the Avatarverse, Senlin Harbor and a major mystery on Zuko and Katara's hands. Someone who has been doing a beautiful job in capturing those descriptions is AylaOfZeladonii from dA who made a fantastic piece of fanart for my story. Here's the link (of course without all of the spacings):_

_http : / aylaofzeladonii . deviantart . com / art / Fall - of - the - White - Lotus __– 154193252_

_And as I'm looking back on this period of writing this story, which lasted over a yea__r, I also know that since Fall of the White Lotus has become such a rich story, it in fact includes almost everything I ever wanted to say about this lovely pairing. So, the ending of the story is also my last complete story in the Zutara fandom. However, the upcoming series about Korra may in fact lead to a new chapter squeezed in between this epologue and last chapter. It's just a vague idea in my head that needs to be explored, depending on what become known about the new series. But perhaps this won't be the last alert you'll be receiving on Fall of the White Lotus. _

_Also, I'm currently writing on a Dramione (HP) fanfic called The Inspection of Elfish Labour Conditions, which perhaps you might be interested in reading._

_I conclude these last author's notes for this story with expressing my gratitude to you, my dear, dear readers for being__ so supportive for the year that lies behind us and provide me with such encouraging, inspiring and often beautiful reviews which made me want to complete this story in the best possible way. _

_I hope you've enjoyed reading Fall of the White Lotus. Let me know how you liked it. I would love to hear from yo__u. Either way I wish you all the best and hope to see you back sometime soon._

_Thank you._

_Love, Boo-82._


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